A Lighter Shade of Evil
by Happy Lilly
Summary: After being killed by Harry, Voldemort is offered another chance at life if he agrees to go back in time and do what he can to prevent both wizard wars. Unfortunately, he has to share a body with someone who has enough magic, courage, brains, and patience to deal with the Dark Lord. Namely, Lily Evans. No ships as of right now, T to be safe, please RnR.
1. The Proposal of Albus Dumbledore

Disclaimer: Harry Potter © J.K. Rowling.

Chapter One

The Proposal of Albus Dumbledore

Voldemort had no idea what hit him when the flames erupted out of the boys – damn that Harry Potter! – wand. He didn't know what was happening until they hit him, burning his chalk-white flesh and – with all that magic, _powerful _magic – he was killed.

The Dark Lord knew he was dead.

He knew the boy had killed him.

So where in the name of Slytherin was he?

Voldemort sat up, noticing that he had been lying down on an old bed, wrapped snugly in a woolen blanket. He was in a small room, with a lit fireplace – which was the only source of light, thus the room was a bit dark – a plain-looking wood table that had a matching chair on either side. The walls had many shelves mounted on them. Each shelf was stuffed with random objects – a teddy bear, a stopwatch, a hairpin, things like that – and photographs. The mantel above the fire place was also full of photographs. Photos were taped to the wall, as well.

Voldemort studied the photos. He was very confused. They all looked... familiar. As did the oddments that were mixed in the the photographs. He got up, still clad in his dark robes, and reached out to touch one of the photographs.

He stopped when he saw his hand. It looked different... It looked, quite simply, human. It wasn't the boney, chalk-white, gruesome-looking appendage he had grown used to. He studied his hand, and slowly, he ran it across his face, immediately noticing that he had a nose. His heart leaped. He had a nose! He quickly wiped the triumphed smirk off his face. He shouldn't be getting excited about having a nose again, or so he tried to tell himself.

_And, _he tried to reason with himself, _I still have no clue where I am or how I got here. I should figure out where I am first... no... I should figure out how I'm still _alive _first..._ Despite his efforts, Voldemort couldn't help but run his fingers over his head to see if he had hair. To say he was delighted when he found he had his hair again would be an extreme understatement. Voldemort wished he had a mirror. He wanted to see his face – his _actual _face – again, even if he did get it from his disgusting Muggle father.

Voldemort shook his head, as if trying to shake away his thoughts, and continued studying the photographs. They didn't look very good. Most of them seemed to be just a bunch of snot-nosed children. Voldemort fought a glare, but lost. He detested children, because of his time at the orphanage... oh. That's why they seemed familiar. They were his. His memories. But why...

"Good to see you again, Tom," came the disgustingly familiar voice of Albus Dumbledore. Voldemort whirled around and multiple emotions seemed to explode in his gut. First shock. Then anger. Then hatred. Fear. And finally, upon all other emotions disappearing, irritation.

"Don't call me that," hissed Voldemort, fighting a smirk when he heard his old voice. "Surly you know that I abandoned that name long ago?" Dumbledore smiled at him, and took a seat at the table, gesturing for Voldemort to do the same. The Dark Lord remained standing, glaring at the one man who he ever feared.

Dumbledore stared, smiling at Voldemort, for a while, before sighing and dropping his pleasant expression. "Tom, my boy, do you know what happened to you?" the dead man asked. Voldemort snarled at him.

"Of course I do!" snapped the Dark Lord, but Dumbledore could see he was lying.

The elder man sighed again. "You're dead, Tom," Dumbledore stated bluntly. Voldemort forced a scoff.

"Y-you think I didn't know already?" he demanded, a bit louder than he meant. Dumbledore nodded in confirmation, just a tad too enthusiastically. Voldemort scowled.

"Tom, don't think I can't spot your lies. Do you want to know why I'm here?" asked Dumbledore. Voldemort's already-petrifying glare became even more alarming. When the Dark Lord didn't say anything, Dumbledore continued.

"I'm here because you're getting a second chance, Tom. Death is being generous, you know," Dumbledore said, gesturing unintentionally with his left hand. There was a moment of silence between the two.

"Continue," Voldemort said hesitantly. Dumbledore offered him a pleasant smile.

"I propose a deal, Tom, but I warn you: Once you take the deal, you can't back out," the former headmaster said. Voldemort scowled.

"For Merlin's sake, old man, just get on with it!" snapped Voldemort.

Dumbledore resisted the urge to tut at the younger man. "Tom, you caused a lot of pain, misery, depression-"

"Are you going to tell me what you want or not!" interrupted Voldemort impatiently. Dumbledore sighed.

"Thomas Riddle, you get a chance to relive life, _if _you agree to do what you can to stop both wizard wars," Dumbledore said, flatly. If it was possible, Voldemort's glare deepened.

"Too late, old fool. The wars are over and done with," Voldemort said.

"Do not be so quick to speak, Tom," said Dumbledore, holding up a hand for Voldemort to be silent. "Whatever magical forces are at work here are able to send you back in time to live again and stop the wars before they start. Unfortunately, there's a catch."

With a roll of his eyes, Voldemort said, "Isn't there always? State your price, dead man." Dumbledore chuckled, making the Dark Lord want to rip the mans beard off.

"Ah, but Tom, it isn't 'my price'. You see, you can only go back if you share a body with another; somebody with enough magic, courage, brains, and patience to share a body with the likes of you, and assist you in stopping the wars," Dumbledore explained. "But their aren't many people like _that." _If Voldemort had his wand then, he would have hexed Dumbledore into the next century.

"And if – _if –_ I were to agree to this, who would I be sharing a body with?" asked Voldemort after some time.

"I do not know," admitted Dumbledore. "Anybody with enough magic, courage, brains, and patience, I suppose." Voldemort wanted to hex Dumbledore into oblivion for listing 'patience' for the second time.

Some time past. Voldemort didn't know how long. It could have been minutes, or hours, or even seconds. Eventually, Voldemort spoke. "Why do you assume I'd ever accept your proposal?"

Dumbledore smiled pleasantly. "Because, dear Tom, if you do not, you will be sent straight into Hell, where you will be tortured and tormented for the rest of eternity."

If Voldemort had been anyone else, he would have uttered a small 'oh', but he would not do such a thing in the presence of Albus Dumbledore. The Dark Lord weighed his options.

He could either accept Dumbledore's offer, share a body with Merlin-knows-who, stop both wars, and live, _or _he could decline, be tossed right into the Ninth Circle of Hell, be 'tortured and tormented for the rest of eternity', and stay dead.

Dumbledore extended his hand, waiting for Voldemort to take it. The Dark Lord eyed the elder mans hand suspiciously.

"You'll be able to keep thoughts privet from the host by simply not saying them out loud, if you're concerned about that," offered Dumbledore. Voldemort scowled. That was anything _but _what he had been thinking.

He had been contemplating how pleased he would be in the end with the deal. Eventually deciding he'd rather share a body than be cast into the burning pits of Hell, Voldemort grabbed Dumbledore's hand.

"But I _won't _be happy about it," seethed Voldemort, glaring at his hand.

When Dumbledore didn't respond, Voldemort tried to take his hand away, but found that his fingers wouldn't budge. He frowned ever so slightly, and tried again. Upon encountering the same result, Voldemort looked up, expecting to see Dumbledore, only to find that the old man was nowhere in sight. Something seemed to squirm in the pit of Voldemort's stomach. Anxiety. He looked back at his hand to see that he was holding a key.

A key. A plain, dull-looking, silver key. It was barely significant. It looked like a key that came with a cheap pencil case that one would buy in a grocery store. He scowled at it.

If it hadn't been something that replaced Albus Dumbledore's hand, he would have tossed it. But it did replace Albus Dumbledore's hand, so he instead stuffed it in the interior pocket of his cloak, deciding it would probably come in hand, one day or another.

He paced around the small room. There was no door in the little room. He eventually began wondering when the Hell something was going to happen.

"Oh, bugger!" he said, after a long while. Spinning on his heel, Voldemort attempted to apparate away.

_Then _something happened.

Voldemort had tried apparating to Riddle Manor, only to find that he had wound up where he had started. In the room. Except now, it was slightly different. Some shelves and trinkets had moved to make way for a door. A rare spike of curiosity made Voldemort try opening the door.

After rattling the handle, throwing himself at the door twice, and cursing louder than he ever had, Voldemort remembered the key.

Slowly, almost hesitantly, he put the key in the keyhole and turned it. To his satisfaction, the lock clicked and the handle turned.

He found himself in a hallway, with a door identical to the one he'd just exited just across from him. To his left was a dead end. To his right, however, there was an empty doorway that led to a large room, empty except for a pair of binoculars that sat on a metal stool in the center.

Voldemort entered the binocular-room. He picked up the binoculars and studied them. They didn't look terribly special at all. But something seemed to be telling him to use them, so, on a whim, he looked through them.

What he saw, and this is an understatement, upset him.

**To Be Given Another Chance**


	2. Voldemort Evans

Disclaimer: Harry Potter © J.K. Rowling.

Chapter Two

Voldemort Evans

A.N./ Sorry for the slow update! I have a motivational problem. This chapter is longer, though, so I hope that makes up for it!

Lily Evans enjoyed using her special skill.

She liked making muffins float and her pictures giggle. She loved it when she made her clothes change color, and when she enlarged cookie crumbs so that she could eat them. One time she turned her one of her old pencils into a doll, but nothing like that had happened in a long, _long_ time.

Her parents liked it when she used her special skill too. Unfortunately, her big sister, Petunia, did not.

"You FREAK! Put that down NOW! Freak! FREAK! _FREAK!" _screeched Petunia shrilly. Lily sighed. When her sister first began calling her a freak, she'd been offended. Now she just pitied her for not being able to come up with a better insult.

Lily turned back to the swing set, which she had been levitating. She was trying to see how far up off the ground she could get it before her sister noticed. Looks like she had yet to break her record of twelve feet, but there was always tomorrow.

Slightly upset, Lily lowered the swing set as Petunia had commanded. "There," said Lily, sounding rather put off, "Happy now, Tunie?"

"No!" snapped Petunia, her eyes narrowed. "Do you have any idea who could have seen you? You'd be taken away and locked in a padded cell – where you'll be around other _freaks _like you!" Lily frowned.

"Mum said only I have my skill," said the younger girl.

"Mum's only talking about _your _freakishness! What I'm talking about are fish-boys, three-headed kids, and people with blue skin and four legs! There are a lot of freaks, stupid, and _you're _one of them!"

"Shut up!" snapped Lily. "I'm not a freak, and who said fish-boys or three-headed kids or people with blue skin and six legs aren't nicer than _you?"_

"I said _four _legs, stupid! And I'm nicer than them because I'm trying get rid of your freakishness! Don't you get that?" replied Petunia loudly.

Lily growled like an animal at her sister. "Would you shut up already!" demanded Lily. Her sister didn't seem pitiful anymore. Now she was just annoying. "I am not a freak, and you are not nice!"

The younger girl spun around and walked away from her sibling.

"Seriously," mumbled the young girl as she stomped away from her elder, "how can anybody be so mean all the time?" By the time she had crossed one of the many ponds that the park supplied, she had stopped stomping and began walking normally. It was Sunday morning, so everyone was either still asleep or attending church.

She sat down on a bench and stared at the lake. Maybe Petunia was right. Perhaps she was a freak. Nobody else could do any of the things she could. It was almost like... magic. Some girls she went to school with once said that magic is against the Bible. But did that make her a freak? Did it make her a satanic nine-year-old? Lily scoffed.

She was _far _from satanic.

With a loud sigh, Lily leaned her head back, staring at the tree branches above her and trying to make out pictures in the leaves. It was something she did when she was angry with Petunia, so she did it often.

"A unicorn," muttered Lily, staring overhead, "and a... dog? Hm." She lapsed into silence, unable to make herself continue talking.

She felt odd. Like somebody was watching her. She'd never felt like that before, so she found herself feeling a bit... edgy, if you will. It felt like somebody was sitting beside her on the bench, but she was quite sure she was the only one there.

"Oh," Lily moaned, beginning to feel insecure, "bugger!" Lily sprang off the bench and ran all the way home, feeling as though she was being watched all the way there.

* * *

Voldemort lowered the binoculars from his face, quite displeased by the fact that he was sharing a body with a little girl.

Never, in his entire existence, did he think he'd be forced to share a body with a little girl, albeit a powerful one. Then again, he'd never thought he'd die either, at least not after becoming Voldemort, with all of the Horcruxs and followers.

Ah, whatever. It was too late to go back now, and he supposed this was better than the fiery, torturous pits of Hell. At least, he hoped so. Perhaps he was in Hell and didn't notice it? Voldemort shook the thought away and slowly began accepting (or at least tolerating) the fact that he was, indeed, sharing a body with a nine-year-old girl.

Eventually, Voldemort raised the binoculars back to his face, deciding that he'd best be getting one with his... task. But he needed to talk to the brat first. He hoped this would be easy.

* * *

Lily ran straight to her room when she got home, ignoring her mother when she told the young girl not to run in the house.

Lily breathed deeply into her pillow, laying stomach-down on her bed. Even though she was up in her room, with the door closed and curtains drawn, she still felt like somebody was watching her.

She turned her head a bit so that she could see herself in the mirror on the opposite half of the room. She gasped, and sat upright. Something was wrong with her eyes. Well, one eye. Her left eye was a shocking red and snake-like.

Something stirred in Lily's gut.

That wasn't her eye.

It slowly rose to her chest.

Maybe she used her skill and accidentally changed her eye?

It was in her throat now.

She didn't like the way her eye looked.

Lily screamed.

Almost instantly, her mother was flinging the door open and launching herself at her daughter. "Lily!" cried Lily's mother, the young girl in her arms. "What happened? Why are you screaming? Talk, please!"

Lily opened and closed her mouth like a fish, eyes wide with terror, for a moment, before risking a glance back at the mirror. The eye was still there. Why didn't her mother say anything about it? Maybe she couldn't see it? Perhaps the eye was like a ghost. Ghosts only showed up in photographs. Maybe the eye only showed up in mirrors?

"M-my eye..." stammered Lily, but her mother cut her off by holding her face with her fingers and staring into her emerald green eyes.

"Nothing is wrong with yours eyes, sweetie," said the older woman soothingly, running her fingers through her thick, red hair. "You must have dozed off and had a nightmare."

Lily's eyes darted back to the mirror. The red eye was still in her head. She hated it, Lily decided. It looked evil.

After Lily's mother left, the young witch began staring into the mirror from across the room, on her bed, pillow clutched to her chest. The eye was still there, but her mother hadn't seemed to notice it.

Maybe it really _was_ like a ghost. But... why couldn't her mother see it? Maybe you had to have her special skill to see it? That would make sense. She was the only one in her family who could do what she could...

Lily's thoughts were interrupted by the sound of somebody clearing their throat. Her head jerked to the left, her eyes wide. Nobody was there. Her eyes slowly made their way to the right. Nobody.

The cough had sounded strange. It seemed quieter than a normal cough, and it echoed a bit. Lily's stomach was a bundle of nerves. It felt like her heart was in her throat. She hated that. She hated the feeling of being stared at.

"_Erm... hello," _said a voice. It was young, male, and it echoed. It also made Lily scream. If her mother hadn't been out in the garden at that moment, Missus Evans would have practically flew up into her daughters room. The voice seemed to scowl. It sounded almost as if it were coming from the inside of her head. Lily's eyes darted around the room, not sure what she expected. "_Oh, for the love of Merlin, you brat. I'm not going to kill you. Don't act like I'm not disgusted myself, having a bloody Mudblood as a host..."_

"W-wh-who are y-you? _Where _are you?" stammered Lily. It would be quite the understatement to say she was terrified at the moment. What reason should she not? Lily was quite certain that the voice was coming from inside her head. But only really crazy people had weird voices residing in their minds. Lily was suddenly fearful for her mental state.

"_Questions, questions... fine, I'll answer. Haven't got much of a choice, anyway._

"_First thing's first, my name is Lord Voldemort, and second, I am in your mind. And before you ask, no, you're not crazy. As far as I know. But that is besides the point. What matters is: Who are _you? _I didn't really catch a name while staring through these... binoculars."_ Lily was even more terrified. Who the heck was Lord Voldemort? More importantly, who in their right mind would be so cruel as to name their child something as outlandish as 'Voldemort'? Lily pushed the thought aside, having noticed that Voldemort had asked her for her name.

"L-Lily is my name," the young witch said, somewhat shakily.

"_Yes, runt, I noticed that. I'm asking what in Slytherin's name your _surname _is," _snapped Voldemort.

"Evans," said Lily, not trusting her voice (which had gotten kind of squeaky) to stay steady. Voldemort groaned inwardly.

Voldemort deemed it official: Fate was a complete dick. Of course he'd be stuck sharing a body with the woman who'd grow to be the mother of his arch enemy. Why hadn't he foreseen it? Oh, right. He wasn't a Seer. He was a Dark Lord. Well, ex-Dark Lord.

"Oh sure it is," he mumbled, his grip on the binoculars tightening in anger. "Isn't that simply splendid?"

"Umm," said Lily, wondering why Voldemort seemed upset by her name. Perhaps he didn't like the name Evans because... maybe his last name was Evans, too, and he thought it was stupid that they had the same surname? Voldemort Evans. It sounded horrible. No wonder he didn't like Evans, growing up with an atrocious name like that.

"_Back to business," _said Voldemort, interrupted Lily's musing. "_I suppose you and your pathetic child mind would like an explanation?"_

"Uh... okay?" Lily said hesitantly, eyebrows draw together slightly. She supposed it'd be nice to know what the heck was going on and why there was a strange man with an even stranger name residing in her head.

"_Very good. First of all, I'd like to make it very clear that I am not a nice person, nor am I forgiving, especially patient, or noble. Another thing I think would be wise to tell you now it that I am evil, and have killed numerous people for reasons I do not feel I have time to share with you," _Voldemort said, making Lily gulp. She had a murderer in her head? The thought made her stomach twist uncomfortably.

"_Moving on, then. I am from the future, but my past self is currently running about, planning to cause a war that will end in hundreds dead, many emotionally and physically scared, and even more orphaned and widowed, that sort of thing. Chaos, if your too lazy too bother remembering all that. I planned to cause chaos," _Voldemort continued. All the sudden, Lily felt extremely angry at Voldemort. Why would anybody do something like that? It was terrible!

Lily couldn't help but question Voldemort. "How could you do all that? Didn't you even think of how those people would feel? You're horrible!" growled the young witch. Voldemort rolled his eyes.

"_Merlin, brat, keep your head on right. I said I was from the future, remember? Can you guess what I'm back for?" _drawled Voldemort.

"To cause _more _misery?" mumbled Lily darkly.

Voldemort sighed. "_No. I'm back to stop my past self from causing such a ruckus."_

"Why the change of heart?" asked Lily, angry at the former Dark Lord for wording his evilness so lightly.

The wizard scoffed. "_It was barely a change of heart, brat. It was either going back in time and sharing a body with you to stop my past self from blackening the land with chaos and misery, or being tortured in the fiery pits of Hell by the Devil himself for the rest of eternity. Which would you have chosen?"_

Lily opened her mouth to respond when what he'd said sunk in. "Fiery pits of... But I thought only dead people go to... Heck?" She could practically hear him roll his eyes.

"_Are you that stupid, girl? I AM, or at least was, dead. I was given another chance, you dimwit. Whatever magic is at work here managed to bring me back to life, send me back in time, and force be to share a body with you. Do you have any other questions I do not feel like answering?" _said Voldemort, briefly wondering if he should talk slower or use smaller words so that the brat could keep up. He decided against it.

"Magic?" asked Lily. Her curiosity spiked all the sudden, and she found herself more than interested in what Voldemort had to say. "Did you just say magic? Tell me about magic!"

"_No."_

"Please tell me! I love magic! I've read lots of books about wizards and witches and fairies and magical realms and curses and spells and dragons and princess-"

"_None of the rubbish those ridiculous books are emptying your brain with is true, Evans. Magical beings are nearly nothing like what those unrealistic works of fiction portray. We have a government. And laws," _Voldemort interrupted.

"There are laws against necromancy-" began Lily.

"_No magic can rise the dead. It can use the dead like puppets, but it cannot restore life,"_ snapped the former Dark Lord. Voldemort realized how ridiculous he must have sounded right then. Had he not just been given another chance at life barely three hours ago? He wondered how the brat would notice.

Luckily, Lily didn't say another word on the matter.

"Okay, then," said Lily, hoping to learn about magic soon, "how am I supposed to help you stop yourself?" She could barely believe that most – if not, all – of the fear that had been bundled up in her gut had left. The man was a murderer! She should be angry, or at least terrified.

Voldemort considered for a moment. "_Well, you'll have to do as I say, lie to those you hold dear along with complete strangers, you'll need to accept – or at least tolerate – the fact that you may or may not die very, very soon, and you need to learn to control your magic better, but I can assist you there," _Voldemort said.

Lily's heart leaped. "Control my magic better? I have magic? My skill is magic and you're gonna teach me? Does that make me a witch?" asked Lily excitedly. Voldemort made a mental note to word his sentences more carefully in the future to avoid her childish questions.

"_Yes, brat. You are a witch (in more ways than one), and yes, I am going to teach you how to control your magic better. Now stop talking to me: I have plans to make," _Voldemort said.

Lily began to oblige to the wizards order, when somethings else made her begin speaking again. "Mister Voldemort," began Lily, ignoring the former Dark Lord's loud groan, "do you know what's wrong with my eye? It's all red, and snakey, and I hate it."

"_It's probably because of me, brat," _snapped Voldemort, assuming that the sooner he answered her, the sooner she'd leave him be, "_'Red and snakey' describes my eyes rather well. Just ignore it and take a nap or whatever brats like you do in their spare time. I have to devise a plan that will stop me from ever starting those stupid wars."_ Or, at least he thought his eyes were still 'red and snakey'. He didn't really have a mirror to check._  
_

Lily nodded, realizing what Voldemort meant by 'wars'. He probably started another one later on. Lily was about to lay down when her stomach grumbled loudly. It was then that the young witch realized how very hungry she was. She hadn't eaten since breakfast, and it was probably close to noon now. She slipped off her bed, deciding to go downstairs and eat lunch, her head buzzing in delight to find out that she was a witch and the red eye didn't mean anything ominous (or at least she hoped so. Sharing a body with an evil wizard-murderer couldn't be all butterflies and cupcakes, could it?).

Lily didn't expect what happened next. She opened her bedroom door, and her sister tumbled to her feet. Lily yelped in surprise.

"Tunie!" cried Lily. Petunia, still on the floor, growled at her.

**One Persons Fear is Another Persons Dream**


	3. Green Sparks

Disclaimer: Harry Potter © J.K. Rowling.

Chapter Three

Green Sparks

"T-Tunie...!" gaped Lily. Petunia rolled her eyes, still glaring and picked herself up off the floor. "What did you hear? Tell me!"

"Shut up, freak, quit getting your knickers in a twist!" snapped the older girl. "And close your stupid mouth! All I heard was you being a dope. Mind explaining that to me?"

For the second time that day, Lily opened and closed her mouth like a fish. "My dolls!" said Lily eventually. "I was playing with my dolls!" Petunia's petrifying glare deepened as her eyes made their way beneath her younger sisters bed. All of her dolls were neatly placed in a plastic box, lid on, under her bed. Her sister had began making her way to the door almost immediately after she finished talking. Unless Lily had been putting the dolls away, exactly how they were the day before, while playing, she didn't see how her freak of a sister could have gotten to the door so quickly after she was done.

"I don't believe you," snapped the older girl. "Tell me the truth, or I'm telling Mum that you're _bonkers!" _Lily blushed and glared at her sister.

"I am not bonkers, and I'm never gonna be bonkers, so you'd be lying to Mum! And if you must know, I was playing a game with my – my – my new imaginary friend!" Lily snapped, raking her brains for a suitable answer.

Petunia scoffed. "Oh really? I think you're just bonkers! I'm going to tell Mum that you're bonkers!" Petunia said, darting out of her sisters room.

"Hey! TUNIE! PETUNIA! Stop, I'm not crazy! It's just an imaginary friend!" Lily half-growled, half-screamed as she began running after her sister.

"_Make _me, freak!" taunted Petunia as she turned through the sitting room and began making her way to the back door.

"Stop! I'm not bonkers! Stop it, Petunia! STOP!" yelled Lily. Petunia's hand was on the doorknob now. Lily squeezed her eyes shut. She didn't want to have to start lying to her mum about what was going on. Lying to Petunia, she could manage. But Lily loved her mother a bit much to lie. Petunia's loud, shrill scream made Lily's eyes open. The doorknob was missing, and the older girl was covered, head to toe, in a translucent green slime.

"FREAK! You did this, didn't you? DIDN'T YOU?" screamed Petunia, coughing slime out of her mouth.

"Did not," snapped Lily, though she knew that was a lie. "You did!"

"You _BRAT!_ How could I have made the stinking doorknob explode? YOU did it! THIS IS _YOUR _FAULT! Now, if you'll excuse me," huffed Petunia, trying to walk with as much dignity as anyone covered in slime could walk, "I'm going to wash this off, and _then _I'm tell Mum and Dad that you exploded the doorknob on me, and that you're bonkers. So _HA!"_

Lily glared at her sisters back as the older girl turned around the corner. She hated Petunia, that's all there was to it.

"_My, my, Evans," _said Voldemort, making Lily startle at his sudden reappearance. Well, not reappearance, exactly, considering he was just a voice in her head. "_I really do have to teach you to control your magic, don't I? Not that the little exploding doorknob wasn't amusing, but..."_

"I thought you were making a plan," muttered Lily, keeping her voice down as she walked off to the kitchen.

"_Yes, I was. But, I have, amazingly, came up with a promising idea in the last two and a half minutes that's sure to be a success once I work out the kinks," _Voldemort said.

"Okay," said Lily, "What's the plan?"

* * *

Lily stared at the palm of her hand, eyebrows drawn together, as she tried to do as Voldemort instructed. Green sparks. Why was it that she could lift a swing set over ten feet off the ground, but she couldn't make green sparks?

Lily was sitting behind a tree trunk at the park, where Voldemort 'was sure' that nobody would find her. Green sparks... His instructions were to simply will the sparks into her hand, but it was harder than she thought.

"Voldemort," whined Lily, "Can't we practice something else? This is too hard."

"_It's only too hard because you're making it so. You need to learn how to control your magic before we can put my plan into action, understand?" _Voldemort said, sounding lethal. He was basically just a consciousness alone... How was it that he could still get headaches? His headache wasn't the only reason he was using his 'lethal' tone. The tone of voice worked wonders with his Death Eaters when he was teaching them Dark Arts... But it didn't seem to be working on the brat.

"Voldemort, can't you just, like, use smaller words or something?" complained Lily. "I can't make the sparks appear. I could only lift the swing set because I wanted to, but why on Earth would I want to make green sparks appear in my hand? What's so interesting about that?" Inside Lily's head, Voldemort held his face in his hand and mentally counted to ten slowly. If she were a Death Eater of his, he would have just given a death threat and used Crucio on her, but... Voldemort removed his hand from his face and fought a smirk.

"_Child, I have great news,"_ declared Voldemort. "_I am going to teach you how to use the most powerful kind of magic. Best of all, you're a child so the ministry probably won't know." _Lily smiled, suddenly not feeling as annoyed as she had been.

* * *

Petunia glared at her sister from across the dinner table, ignoring her parents as they rambled about their day. Her freak of a sister had been up to something lately (even though it had only been going on for a few hours)... Something involving her freakishness, no doubt. And probably her new 'imaginary friend'.

Her parents hadn't believed her when she said that Lily was 'probably going to become a criminally insane pyromaniac, because she was already hearing voices in her head'. Her mother had simply said that if Lily did turn into a pyromaniac, she'd take care of it.

Lily looked like she had a lot on her mind. She was staring down at her food, poking it with her fork, and her eyes kept flickering over to the window above the stove in the other room, and she had That Look in her eyes. That Look in Lily's eyes usually meant she was listening to something important or off in dandy-dream land. Though with her new 'imaginary friend' and all, Petunia simply decided that her sister was beginning to hallucinate, and the pyromania would soon arrive.

"Is something wrong, Lily?" asked the girls mother, snapping Petunia from her thoughts and zapping Lily to attention. "You seem out of it."

"Huh...? Oh, uh, no. No, I'm fine, Mum. Just tired," said Lily. "Er, may I please be excused so I can go to bed?" The woman nodded.

"Remember to brush your teeth before turning in, dear," reminded the girls mother. Lily nodded before disappearing into the next room.

"May be excused as well, Mum?" asked Petunia.

"No, honey. Finish your potatoes."

Petunia glared down at her food, deliberately submerging herself in a pool of hatred and jealousy, most – if not, all – of it directed at her younger sister, who always, always, always had her parents favor. On Petunia's last birthday, she had noticed that her mother cut Lily a larger slice of cake than the one she cut for the older girl. On Christmas, Lily received more gifts. Missus Evans often took Lily out to town with her, leaving Petunia at home. She hated it. She hated that her parents would obviously choose Lily over Petunia any day.

* * *

Lily closed her bedroom door, ignoring her empty stomach as it whined for more food.

"Couldn't I have at least finished dinner before going upstairs?" mumbled Lily.

"_No. You need teaching. Ignore your stomach for now, Evans. We have work to do," _said Voldemort.

"But I'm hungry," insisted Lily. "Can't this wait?"

"_I assure you, child, it most certainly can not. Are you ready?" _replied Voldemort strictly. Lily sighed.

"Fine. What do I do?" asked Lily.

"_Sit on your bed," _ordered Voldemort. Lily did as she was told. "_Now, before we begin, I will inform you that the magic I will be teaching you is vital to my plan, and if you can't at least get the hang of it by the end of tonight, I will personally see to it that your life is a living Hell. It's a good thing you're not from a magical family, otherwise the Ministry of Magic would probably be keeping a close eye on you."  
_

"Wizards have a government?" asked Lily.

"_Yes, brat. Non-magical people aren't the only ones who need mindless sheep thinking they're oh-so-special because they sit behind a desk and write their name on documents all day. Moving on...  
_

"_I hope you'll recall how I taught you to concentrate your magic so that you can use it even if you don't want to? Well, first I need you to practice the green sparks-"_

"Again?" interrupted the young girl. "Bugger, I hated that. Why do I have to?"

"_Because if you don't, you'll never work you're way up to the next level and the world will be doomed to a war that will leave hundreds dead, just as many emotionally scared, and a few mentally unstable. Understand?" _snapped Voldemort. "_Oh, and you need to practice your magic so that you can get into Diagon – well, Knockturn Alley, really. The folks there are really the only ones who will sell magical goods to children." _Lily felt her empty tummy leap with excitement. Magical goods? That meant she'd get to see real witches and wizards! She extended her palm and brought the image of green sparks into her mind.

* * *

"Where are you going, honey?" asked Missus Evans as Lily reached for the doorknob.

Lily blinked her tired eyes. She had been up for hours past her usual bedtime, practicing magic. Voldemort didn't let her go to sleep until he was quite sure she'd be able to enter the magical world. That meant she was up until some time after one in the morning.

"The park, Mum," answered Lily. "I'll be back by lunchtime. Bye!" Missus Evans reminded her to watch for cars and not to talk to strangers before letting her leave, not asking what was in her backpack. It wasn't the first time Lily left with her school backpack strapped on. It usually carried dolls or books.

Lily took her usual rout to the park, but instead of entering through the rusty iron gates, she kept walking.

Voldemort had simply told her to walk until she found a place where no 'Muggles' were around. Lily walked until she was standing across the road from the old cemetery. The only time any people were around the cemetery was during funerals, so she was quite sure nobody was watching.

Lily pointed her index finger upwards, like one would do to summon a taxi (except it looked more like she was pointing at a duck-shaped cloud that was floating overhead) and willed magic into it. Voldemort said that eventually, she'd be able to do this without thinking, but she was still a beginner.

Almost instantly after she summoned magic into her finger, a purple, triple-decker bus appeared and she was greeted by a tired-looking man who needed a nice shave and a haircut.

"Good day, kid Me names Greg Stautling and this here is the Night Bus. Where d'you want to go?"

**To Learn Something New**


	4. The Drunken Pixie

Disclaimer: Harry Potter © J.K. Rowling.

Chapter Four

The Drunken Pixie

Lily stumbled out of the Night Bus, fighting the urge to wretch. It had felt like the driver knew no speed limits. Or how to turn properly, come to think of it. Voldemort had instructed Lily to tell Stauntling that she wanted to go to some pub called 'The Drunken Pixie', because he didn't want her to have to cut through Diagon Ally to get where they needed to be going.

As Lily stumbled between two buildings, she couldn't help but wonder what she'd signed up for. Well, she didn't technically sign up for it, but still. At least Voldemort got a choice, even though that 'choice' was help or Hell.

"Mind telling me where the door is?" mumbled Lily.

"_Where the... Oh, yes. I forgot to tell you how to enter. See that brick wall over there?" _Voldemort said, infuriating Lily the teeniest bit.

"Yeah, how could I miss it?" replied Lily, staring straight ahead at the wall. "That poor pile of bricks must have been vandalized every day for the past ten years."

"_You think so? I think it looks more like it's been vandalized every day for the past eight years. But anyway," _said Voldemort, "_when you get to the wall, simply say the password, which is..." _He trailed off.

Lily looked up slightly and glared, as if doing so could tell Voldemort how irritated she was. She had reached the wall, but she didn't know how to enter The Drunken Pixie.

"Ah-hem, Voldemort? The password _is...?" _said Lily, annoyed. Voldemort was quiet for a while.

"_You're nine," _said Voldemort.

"So?" snapped Lily.

"_Oh, fine! You really wanna know? Bust-fucking. There, I said it. That's the password. Happy?" _Voldemort snapped irritably. Obviously, he felt awkward saying it, but Lily, being only nine years old, only noticed the curse.

"That's why you wouldn't tell me?" asked Lily, her tone disbelieving. "I thought grown-ups swore lots. Well, the evil ones, but still..."

"_That's not- Oh, for the love of Merlin, just say it," _groaned Voldemort.

Lily had never cursed in her life, nor did she want to right then, but what had to be done, had to be done, so she steeled her nerves. "Bust-f-fucking," said Lily a bit shakily. She hoped she wouldn't need to say that again. She didn't like cursing. Her mother could get mad at her.

Almost the second the words escaped her mouth, the bricks began magically rearranging themselves to reveal an archway. Hidden in the shadows was a door that was painted lime-green. Hanging above it was a creaky sign that read: _The Drunken Pixie._ Below the name was a picture of a witches silhouette. A very curvy witches silhouette, at that. Apparently, this pub was not ideal for children.

The Drunken Pixie was rather empty. There was a near-toothless man wiping a filthy cup with a filthy rag behind the counter, which was filthy. The floors needed to be mopped and the front window, though wide and stained-glass, was in desperate need of a long, thorough scrubbing. At one table, there was a tall, glamorous witch in robes that showed off a lot of her breasts and her legs, and seemed to be made specially to show how nice her waist was. Her hair was long a dark, and her eyes were deep violet. She was counting gold coins.

At another table, a similarly dressed woman with an equally-glamorous body was taking an order from a dark-skinned man in a strange hat. The bartender looked up when Lily walked in.

"Ye gotta be seventeen er' older to come in, kid," he said, spraying a bit of saliva from his toothless mouth when he spoke. Lily shrugged, hoping that Voldemort would come up with a good excuse for her.

"_Tell him that you're older than you look," _ordered Voldemort.

"I'm older than I look," said Lily stiffly. The bartender raised an eyebrow at her.

"An' just 'ow did ya know the password, eh?" questioned the bartender, squinting suspiciously at the young girl.

"_You spoke to somebody who's been here before and they accidentally let the password slip," _Voldemort said.

"I was talking to someone who has been here before and they accidentally let the password slip," Lily repeated. The bartenders squint became a bit more intense.

"Mmkay, mind sayin' what a _brat _like you is doin' in a _pub, _full o' alcohol an' whores?" challenged the bartender.

"_Just tell the man that you're passing through, would you?" _snapped the former Dark Lord.

"I'm just passing through here," said Lily flatly. The bartender glared at her.

"Why didn't ya tell me the the first place, ya brat? G'wan, the door's over there, it is! Now beat it!" the bartender shouted, spraying spit out of his mouth. Lily hurriedly walked through the pub and opened the door, almost throwing herself outside. Glaring back at the pub, Lily took in her surroundings.

Knockturn Ally, to say the least, was quite a depressing place.

Though the sky was a lovely shade of blue, with the occasional puffy white cloud floating by, the streets were dark and the buildings even more so. All of the shop names seemed to have something to do with death, destruction, or the owners name. As Lily's eyes wandered aimlessly around the street, she wondered if all magical places were like this.

"_Well?" _snapped Voldemort impatiently. "_Get a move on. The store is called 'Borgin and Burkes'. It's twelve buildings to the right. If you come across anyone, don't make eye-contact, don't act high and mighty, only talk if they start a conversation, but if they do try and speak to you, don't mention that you're from a Muggle family." _Lily nodded slightly, forgetting for a moment that Voldemort couldn't see her face. Halfway to Borgin and Burkes, however, Lily did encounter somebody.

He was tall, with a narrow face, and had blue-gray eyes. His hair was white-blonde and reached his shoulders. He looked about thirteen. He had the air of pomposity about him. He had exited it a shop, looking angry.

"Good day to you too, _sir," _he snapped at the owner of the store. He noticed Lily and sneered.

"My, my, my. Whatever could a runt like you be doing in a place like this?" he said, his sneer still there. Lily gulped.

"Stuff," she replied. The boy rolled his eyes.

"Oh really? Stuff? Of course, I never did want an actual answer," his voice screamed sarcasm. He glared. "Do you know who I am?"

"No," said Lily, a bit hesitantly. He rolled his eyes.

"I, brat, am Lucius Abraxas Malfoy. Surly you know the Malfoy family?" snapped Lucius, his obviously ginormous ego getting on Lily's nerves.

"No, I haven't," Lily almost snapped, fighting a glare. Lucius raised his eyebrows in surprise.

"You... you _don't _know about the Malfoy family?" he asked. He looked shocked, angered, offended, and curious all at the same time. "How could you... are you a _Mudblood?" _Lily noticed the way his eye twitched at the word, and realized that 'Mudblood' was probably an insult.

"Lucius!" called an older man, who was probably Lucius's father, seeing as how they looked almost identical. The man looked rather cross. His face was flushed (he had probably been running around for a while), Lily noted. "I thought I made it very, very clear that you were not to wander off while I was talking to Mister Borgin! Why did you-" He finally noticed Lily, and he, no doubt being wiser than his son, noticed that she was from a Muggle family based off her clothes alone. He turned back to his red-faced son (he had never been spoken to like that by his father in front of anyone except his mother before), and mouthed the word 'Mudblood' while pointing is thumb at Lily. Lucius nodded.

"Mudblood child!" said Lucius's father, brandishing his cane at her. "Do run along. You have no place here." With that, he grabbed Lucius by the wrist and dragged his son off.

"_That went well," _offered Voldemort. "_Except now they're going to be telling everyone that there's a Mudblood in Knockturn Ally. You'll need some robes, then. Moving on, get to Borgin and Burkes." _Lily walked quickly the rest of the way.

Inside Borgin and Burkes, Lily did her best to ignore the shrunken heads, human bones, and numerous notes on pieces of fine jewelry that warned shoppers about them being cursed and tapped the bell that sat on the counter.

A man seemed to appear out of nowhere. "G'day, young miss. I'm Mister Borgin, what do you need?" he said, smiling, but it didn't reach his eyes. He obviously wasn't much for children.

"_Tell him you're here to sell some necklaces,"_ ordered Voldemort.

"I would like to sell some necklaces, Mister Borgin," said Lily. Another thing Voldemort had kept her up doing was teaching her to put an air of authority in her voice. Apparently is was supposed to intimidate people she spoke to ("_Humans, especially magical folk, are scared stiff of authority," _he'd told her the night before).

"Necklaces, eh?" said Mister Borgin, his face twitching a bit. "What kind of necklaces?"

Lily pulled a silver necklace with rubies strung on it out of her backpack. A year ago, Lily's grandparents died and she and Petunia had inherited many fine trinkets. She felt bad a about selling them, but...

Mister Borgin inspected the necklace, holding a small eyeglass to his face.

"I can give you two galleons for it," stated Mister Borgin.

"Is that good?" asked Lily. Voldemort said it was the question she was to ask after he gave the price, because it was something she could ask him and wouldn't raise suspicion.

"Oh, yes, young miss," he smiled, but again, it looked fake.

"_No, it's not. Say you won't sell for any less than eighteen," _Voldemort said.

"No less than eighteen galleons, Mister Borgin," said Lily firmly, crossing her arms. Mister Borgin's eyes narrowed as he realized that this kid meant _business._

"I'll give you fifteen," said Mister Borgin His smile now resembled a grimace.

"Nineteen," Lily shot back.

"Seventeen?"

"Eighteen and eight sickles."

"Fine!" sighed Mister Borgin, setting the necklace on the counter and pulling eighteen gold galleons and eight sickles out of his robes. "Eighteen and eight sickles, you win."

Lily smiled sweetly at him. "_So_ glad we could do business," she said.

* * *

After haggling with Mister Borgin, Lily was told to go down the street and up a staircase. She didn't meet anyone else on the way, but as soon as she emerged into Diagon Ally, Lily could hardly breathe. She was surprised anyone could manage to cross the street with so many wizards and witches about. The shops we lively, the people all looked kind enough. The difference between the neighboring allies was almost unimaginable.

"_Don't just stand there looking dim," _barked Voldemort. "_Go up the street until you see a white building called Gringotts, we need to deposit come of the extra money."_

"Why not just carry it around?" asked Lily.

"_Pickpockets. It'll be safe at Gringotts. The only person who has ever stolen anything from that bank is me. And... them, a couple years later. But whatever! Go on!" _Voldemort ordered. Lily wondered who 'them' was, but didn't bother asking. He probably wouldn't tell her anyway.

The goblins (Lily was so fascinated by them!) didn't seem all that hesitant when Lily asked to make a vault of her own. She was a bit scared when they said they needed a pint of her blood for the vault to be hers, but after Voldemort snapped at her do suck it up and endure the pain, Lily extended her palm. Luckily, they gave her a blood regeneration potion and worked some magic on her hand to get rid of the scar. So thoughtful. She placed a few galleons and half of her sickles in the vault before leaving.

Next she needed to buy some robes. According to Voldemort, she wouldn't be able to get very much work in Knockturn Ally (she groaned when he told her they'd be doing more work there) done if she was dressed like a Muggle, so she wandered into a second-hand robe shop and spent some money on a few pairs of robes. After Lily thanked the young witch who sat, looking bored, behind the counter, Voldemort ordered Lily to go home.

"What? Why can't we get some more work done before going?" asked Lily.

"_Because, brat, you said to your mother that you'd be home for lunch. Guess what time it is?" _Voldemort's tone was a mixture of impatience and mockery.

"Oh, butts!" cried Lily, making the young lady behind the counter raise in eyebrow. "I have to go home before Mum gets worried!" Lily rushed out of the store, and turned into Knockturn Ally. By the time she reached The Drunken Pixie, the sun was very overhead and Lily was quite sure she'd be late.

"Ya back?" the bartender said, sounded put off. "Aw, great. Merlin help me. Eh, make like one o' those Muggle bakery-cars and haul buns, would ya?" Lily didn't acknowledge him, but left the pub anyway. Just before she slammed the door behind her, she heard the bartender say he ought to change the password.

**To Discover a New World**


	5. Jolly Jeff's Custom Wands

Disclaimer: Harry Potter © J.K. Rowling.

Chapter Five

Jolly Jeff's Custom Wands

Lily and Voldemort had big plans for the day. Lily needed a wand, books that she could learn from, herbs, a cauldron... and a place to hide it all.

Unfortunately, these plans were ruined when Missus Evans declared something at breakfast. It was just Petunia, Lily, and their mother in the house, because Mister Evans had gone to work already.

"Girls," said Missus Evans, "today, I'm going to be having lunch with a friend of mine I haven't seen in a while. I probably won't be back until after supper, so Petunia, you're in charge."

Petunia groaned. "Mum, why do _I _have to watch Lily?" asked Petunia crossly.

"Yeah," said Lily.

"Because your normal babysitter had a stroke," snapped Missus Evans. She sighed. "Poor Miss Jones..."

"Isn't Dad supposed to be home soon anyway?" asked Petunia.

"He's working late, Tunie. He won't be back until around midnight," explained Missus Evans. Petunia sunk into her seat, pouting. "Neither of you are to leave the house while I'm gone unless it's on fire, there's an intruder, or any other situation where it would save your lives. Do not answer the phone unless it's me or you father calling, and don't open the door for anyone, okay?"

Missus Evans left an hour or so later.

"Now what?" muttered Lily, laying down in her bed and glaring at the ceiling as if it had offended her. "Mum told me not to leave the house unless it's on fire. How are we going to get to Knockturn Ally now?"

There was a moment of silence in which Voldemort considered. "_Well, there's two options," _he said, "_One, you could set the house on fire-"_

"Not sure how I feel about that one," Lily said, a bit sarcastically.

"_-or you could fake a fit, pretend to lock yourself in your room, and sneak out," _finished Voldemort.

"Are you saying I should pick a fight with Petunia?" asked Lily skeptically.

"_No. I was suggesting that you brainwash all of the apes in the world by means of a toaster. _YES, _I'm telling you to pick on your sister!" _snapped Voldemort.

"Geez, patience, Voldie, look it up," Lily retorted. Voldemort began to answer when he realized just what the little girl had dared call him.

"_Don't... Don't call me that, okay?" _said Voldemort. "_Just go infuriate your sister."_

"Fine, fine, I'll go pick on her," mumbled Lily as she got out of her bed and made her way to the door.

On the way downstairs, Lily heard Petunia talking to somebody. "... just come back _please? _Why couldn't you and your friend have waited until after the summer was over to have lunch? … _Mum-" _Petunia whined. Lily peeked down the stairs to see her older sister pacing with the kitchen phone held to her ear. She looked mad. Of course she was. Petunia often disappeared in the daytime. Sometimes it was to follow Lily to the park, other times she spent some time in the library. Wherever else, Lily didn't know, but apparently, the older girl wanted to leave the house very badly.

"FINE!" said Petunia, sounding defeated and annoyed. "I'll stay in the house and stop bugging you! But if your any more than fifteen minutes late, so help me..." Petunia breathed heavily, flaring her nostrils, into the speaker part of the phone, and hung up. Lily took a deep breath, and walked into view.

"Wow, Tunie," said Lily, "You sound like a mother getting mad at her teenaged daughter in the phone."

"Shut up, freak," snapped Petunia. "Go back to your room and be freaky, why don't ya?"

"Freak?" said Lily, trying to sound as infuriatingly innocent as she possibly could. "But I'm just a normal little girl!"

Petunia glared at her sister. It was almost like she was trying to get on her nerves. This was strange, because it was usually Petunia who picked on Lily, not the other way around. Was Lily starting to become a prick as well as a freak?

"_Normal?" _repeated Petunia, irritated by her sister. "_NORMAL? _You're a FREAK! You wave your hands and make muffins float! You hold a butterfly and it turns from – from red to rainbow! They used to hunt down and _kill _people – no, freaks – like that! They'd tie rocks to their feet and drown them! Dump oil or something on them and set them on fire! Don't you get it? _YOU'RE – A – FREAK!"_

"_You're deeply offended by your sisters words, so you run up to your room, slam the door, and cry," _said Voldemort dryly. Lily put on her best 'I'm about to cry' face, and ran up, fake-sobbing, to her room, where she slammed the door and made the portrait of a vase (which hung near her door) shake.

She instantly wiped off her crybaby face and began rummaging through her backpack. She pulled out a pair of second-hand robes and, after snapping at Voldemort not to look at her (which he would have done without being told. He had absolutely zero interest in a kids body. The very thought made him sick), put them on. When she had redressed, Lily looked in her mirror, seeing only two green eyes on her face.

"Voldemort? You there?" she muttered. Lily watched as one of her eyes became red and and snake-like. "I'll take that as a yes," Lily concluded, making sure she had what she needed in her backpack. She strapped her backpack on and asked Voldemort for instructions.

"_Go to some room in the back of the house and climb out of a window. Avoid your sister if possible- no, avoid your sister no matter what," _Voldemort said, not wanting to admit that Petunia had slightly unnerved him after explaining how people killed witches during the medieval witch hunt, even though he knew that witches and wizards could just do some magic and be fine. Lily slipped out of her bedroom and tiptoed towards her parents room. Petunia was most likely still downstairs (she usually did most things downstairs, after all), so she tried to tread lightly in case her sister heard her footsteps.

Mister and Missus Evans bedroom had a large window in it that overlooked the garden. The window was over the back porch, so Lily could climb out onto bit of roofing that was above it, which she actually did often. Lily climbed out. Her father had been pulling leaves out of the gutters (God knew how so many leaves got in there) recently, so there was a ladder propped up against the roof. Lily used it to climb down.

Careful not to be spotted through any windows, Lily sneaked out the back gate and ran all the way down to the cemetery, where she signaled for the Night Bus. She was greeted by Stautling again.

"Good day, kid. Me names- Oi, hey! I've seen you before!" Stautling said, squinting at Lily. "Ya got some robes now, eh? Where to?"

"_Tell him you want to go to The Drunken Pixie again," _ordered the former Dark Lord. Lily groaned inwardly. She didn't fancy seeing the bartender again, nor was she looking forward to uttering the password a second time.

Nevertheless, Lily told Stautling to take her to The Drunken Pixie, and five minutes or so later, she was dropped off at the same place she was the day before.

When Lily reached the vandalized wall (Lily still thought it had been vandalized every day for ten years, but Voldemort argued eight) Voldemort told her to say the password and, a bit more steadily than last time, the little girl said 'bust-fucking' and the door appeared.

"Yer _back?" _the bartender said, looking somewhere between irritated and awed. "No, don't tell me, yer older than ya look, right?"

"Yes, and I'm-" began Lily.

"Jus' passin' though, I _know," _interrupted the bartender. "Now haul buns an' make a break for it, kid!" Lily made a grimace at the bartender, which told the man she didn't like him that much, and emerged into Knockturn Ally.

"Where to, Voldemort?" asked Lily.

"_Across the street, six buildings down, go down the ally, and it'll be the third building to the left," _Voldemort said. "_Same safety rules apply. Now don't just stand there looking dim, get a move on!" _Lily scowled, a bit annoyed at Voldemort. She followed his directions and found herself standing outside a shabby building with no front windows called 'Jolly Jeff's Custom Wands'. Lily's heart skipped a beat when she read the name. Was she getting a wand?

Lily entered the shop on Voldemort's command. Lily was quite awed to see the the entire front room devoid of people. It said 'custom wands' on the building, for Pete's sake! Surly that was intriguing for magical folk? Lily sat down in one of the many identical chairs in the waiting area, and stared at the clock on the wall. After a few minutes, the door opened again. Lily's head snapped in the direction of the door.

Lucius and his father strode into Jolly Jeff's Custom Wands, Lucius collapsing into a waiting chair, his posture a bit too elegant for a boy. His father rolled his eyes at his son, before noticing Lily.

"You again, Mudblood?" drawled Lucius's father. "I thought I said yesterday that Knockturn Ally is no place at all for Mudbloods. Begone!" Lily fought a glare.

"I'm sorry if my being here disgusts, you, Mister... Malfoy, is it?" Lily said, trying to be polite. "But we're both human beings and I every right to be here, just like you and Luciu—"

"You _DARE _refer to me as an _equal?" _Lucius said, making an expression of both disgust and terror. Lily counted to ten in her head.

"I'm referring to you as a human being, if that's what you mean," Lily said patiently. Lucius scowled and his father took a deep breath.

"Listen-" began the older Malfoy, but he was interrupted by a blonde man with a round face coming from seemingly nowhere, arms outstretched, and grinning like he'd never been happier before in his life.

"Abraxas Malfoy, sir!" he said, eyes twinkling. "How delighted I am to see you! Young Mister Malfoy, how have you been?" Lucius simply nodded to the man, and his father, Abraxas, scowled.

"Mister Bogstrottle-" began Abraxas.

"Call me Jeff," interrupted Jeff. Abraxas curled his upper lip at him, showing a few perfect, pearly teeth.

"As I was saying, Mister Bogstro- Jeff," Abraxas said, changing his mind on how to address Jeff when the happy-looking wand-maker opened his mouth to insist on his first name, "I am in need of a new wand. My old one has recently been the victim of an unfortunate accident involving an enlarged rock, an unfortunate passerby, and my son."

"Ah, yes," said Jeff, still having failed to notice Lily, "It was ebony, yes? Fourteen inches... Dragon core? The flexibility was..."

"Unspeakably bendy," Abraxas put in dryly. Abraxas was quiet for a moment, looking uncomfortable under Jeff's slightly unnerving smile. Eventually, he let out a defeated sigh. "You may carve any pattern you like into the handle, but no unicorns. You did unicorns last time, and I got laughed at when I went to work. Something more sinister this time." Jeff beamed happily, his smile no longer creepy. After Abraxas and Lucius left, Jeff noticed Lily.

"Blimey! How long have you been there?" asked Jeff, eyebrows raised.

"A while," answered Lily.

"Well, you here for... what, directions? Sweets?"

"A wand, actually," said Lily, her heart fluttering when she thought of her very own wand. Jeff's smile turned mischievous.

"Up to no good, are we, little lady? Well, you've come to the right place. Know your core?" asked Jeff.

"Er... no?" said Lily.

"Wood?"

"No..."

"Preferred flexibility?"

"No."

Jeff sighed. "Girlie, we've gotta lot of work to do," he said. "Why don't you follow me to the testing area and we can figure out the important stuff?" As it turned out, Jeff had come from a trapdoor that was located behind the counter. Down the ladder they went, and Lily found herself in a well-lit room that had two chairs across from each other, separated by a small table covered in a violet cloth, in it. There was a medium-sized wooden box beside the table, but Lily wasn't all that intrigued by it.

"Take a seat," said Jeff kindly. Lily did, and Jeff sat across from her. "Wand arm?" he said, holding out his palm as he used his other hand to pull a bit of parchment, an inky quill, a tape measure, and what looked like a silver fork with planets engraved into it, out of the box. Lily extended her right hand.

Jeff, still smiling, used the planet-fork to trace the lines on her hands. After measuring her limbs, head, waist, and how big around her fingers were – jotting down the measurements all the way – he studied his notes. "Hmm... Yes, yes... Come back... tomorrow. The wand will be ready then. It would cost you twenty galleons," said Jeff, "but because you're a kid, and you're up to no good, you get a discount. You get the wand for ten." Lily thanked Jeff and he led her outside of the store.

He waved goodbye to her as she began making her way towards Diagon Ally, and Lily decided she liked Jeff.

"_If you're thinking he's nice, Evans, don't be fooled," _Voldemort said suddenly, making Lily jump. She'd forgotten about him for a moment. Strange, she was sure that having a crazy wizard-murderer in you're head was something people tend to remember. Oh, God. She had a crazy wizard-murderer in her head. And she couldn't contact some kind of... child service. That sucked. Oh well. "_There are countless businessmen- and women- in Knockturn Ally who have mastered the art of..." _Voldemort paused as he searched for the right word.

"Butt-kissing?" offered Lily helpfully.

"_That," _confirmed Voldemort. "_In any case, don't be fooled by happy smiles or kind offers around here. It'll end badly for you if you begin thinking __that's how things work."_

"I'll keep that in mind," Lily said dryly.

When Lily arrived in Diagon Ally, Voldemort told her to go to Gringotts and withdraw some extra money before going to Potage's Cauldron Shop. There she bought a plain brass cauldron and, to her dismay, ran into Lucius Malfoy again.

"Oh my _God, _Malfoy," Lily said, exasperated. "Are you stalking me?" Lucius curled his lip at her, still browsing cauldrons.

"Are _you _stalking _me?" _Lucius replied. "I happen to recall entering the store before you, Mudblood."

"Quit calling me that," snapped Lily. "And my name is Lily."

"Mudblood," Lucius said, pointing at his face, "does this look like the face of somebody who gives two gargoyle feet about what your parents call you?"

"Nope," Lily said brightly. "It looks to me like the face of a flamboyant stalker who really needs to man-up." Lily turned and left the shop before Lucius could respond. Though, halfway through the door, she did hear Lucius yell, "I'm not a stalker!" somewhat angrily.

After purchasing several (second-hand) books and many potion ingredients, Voldemort ordered Lily to go home. The bartender in The Drunken Pixie was more than unhappy to see Lily again.

"Why can't ya leave from somewhere else?" grumbled the bartender, glaring at Lily as she passed.

"Because I just love this place so much!" Lily said brightly. Her face soured. "No. I'm only going through because it's the easiest way." The bartender rolled his eyes.

"Whatever. Just go away, would ya?" he snapped. Lily spat her tongue out at him before slamming the door.

* * *

Lily was beginning to grow used to the Night Bus. A bit. But not much. The young girl half-ran back to the house. After crawling through the garden and up the ladder, Lily slipped through the window in her parents room an tiptoed back to her own bedroom.

Lily was quite proud of herself for making it home unnoticed. But Voldemort didn't let her savor her success very long. Lily changed into her normal clothes and hid her new equipment (Voldemort wouldn't let her simply call it 'stuff').

Right on time, too, because almost as soon as Lily locked the drawer where her 'equipment' – she referred to it as stuff in her head – was hidden, the bedroom door was flung open, and there stood a very stern-looking Petunia Evans.

"Listen, Lily," said Petunia, her tone lethal, "we need to talk."

**To Make A Deal With The Deceiving**


	6. Nightmares and Vomit

Disclaimer: Harry Potter © J.K. Rowling.

Chapter Six

Nightmares and Vomit

Petunia had always been very, very good at spotting lies and fakes. That was why she hated watching TV and movies. She could always tell when the actors felt nervous when their character was confident, or when the actress felt bored. But no one knew about Petunia's outstanding observation skills.

It was how Petunia knew her sister was being a total fake when she ran upstairs after picking a fight with her. Why Lily didn't simply keep arguing or storm off to her bedroom after Petunia made her speech about medieval witch hunts intrigued the older girl, so after hearing Lily's door slam, Petunia followed her.

After hearing her sister mutter to who Petunia assumed was her 'imaginary friend', the older girl heard Lily's footsteps coming towards the door. She'd ducked into the bathroom across the hallway. Petunia had seen her sister sneak into their parents room, dressed in a very peculiar fashion, and, when she poked her head through the door, she saw Lily climb out of the window.

Petunia quickly ran downstairs. Her hand was on the telephone when she remembered that Missus Evans had probably left her friends house by then (she'd given Petunia the number just in case). The older girl ran through the garden and managed to catch a glimpse of Lily's alarming red hair before the nine-year-old disappeared from view.

Petunia tailed her all the way to the cemetery. Hiding behind a bush, Petunia saw her sister raise her hand like she was summoning a taxi. The older girl had to suppress a scoff. There were no taxis in Cokeworth. Her sister was... Petunia's eyes widened as Lily disappeared to what seemed like nowhere.

For an hour and a half, Petunia sat, crouched behind a bush, waiting for her sister to reappear. And she did, eventually. Petunia followed her back to the house, where her sister climbed up the ladder their father had left propped up against the house, slip through the window, and shut it behind her. Petunia went back into the house and ran upstairs. She took a deep breath before opening the door, not knocking. Lily jumped in surprise.

"Listen, Lily," Petunia said, a bit shocked at how lethal she sounded, "we need to talk."

* * *

Lily sat at the kitchen table, heart racing, staring at Petunia, who was pacing. Before Lily sat a glass of orange juice, which, to her surprise, Petunia had poured for her. Lily gulped nervously.

"Lily," said Petunia quietly. The younger girl tried not to shudder. Her voice was too soft, too quiet, too _calm. _She would have felt better if Petunia was screaming at her in her room, and left, forbidding her from leaving until their mother got home. But this? Taking her downstairs, and giving her juice? Was it some kind of torture? "Lily, Lily, Lily. Sweet, mysterious Lily." Lily's breathing was becoming unsteady. Petunia's eyes finally met Lily's.

"I saw you, you know," said Petunia. "I followed you to the cemetery, and saw you disappear. I was there for over an hour, waiting for you to come back. And you did. And I followed you."

"_Well, this can't end well," _commented Voldemort unhelpfully. Lily took a deep, albeit unsteady, breath.

"I-I suppose you want me to explain?" Lily said, her voice shaking a bit. Petunia scowled.

"'Suppose'?" repeated Petunia, irritation etched into her features. "'SUPPOSE'? Lily, you disappeared into thin air for _over an hour! _You _suppose _I want an explanation? _Maybe _I want to know why you were dressed like a clown? _Perhaps _I'm interested in why you had to climb out a window? _There's a chance _I'd like to know _what in Hades name you were doing?!" _Lily jumped. Petunia's sudden change in volume had surprised her. Well, at least she wasn't talking softly anymore.

Petunia collapsed into a chair and held her head in her hands. "Drink your juice," barked the older girl. Lily did as she was told. Petunia sighed.

"Do you plan on explaining yourself?" Oh, butts. Her tone was soft again. Lily swallowed hard.

"_Make up some kind of believable excuse," _ordered Voldemort. "_But make sure it isn't true."_

"Don't you dare think of lying to me," said Petunia. Lily began feeling sick. Her sister or the psychotic murderer in her mind? "Well?" Petunia said.

"_Lie," _Voldemort ordered.

"I feel sick," Lily said. Petunia raised an eyebrow and Voldemort groaned loudly. "No, really. I think I'm going to throw up." It was true. There must have been something funky going on with her orange juice.

"Tunie," Lily said, her tummy turning over, "how long has that juice been open?" Petunia rolled her eyes.

"I don't know! A few days, maybe a bit more than a week," snapped Petunia. Lily really didn't feel well. She gulped with difficulty, and wished she hadn't. Petunia saw her face, screwed up in an effort not to be sick, and stood up.

Petunia led her sister to the bathroom, but alas, for right before the younger girl got her head above the toilet, she vomited right onto her shoes.

"Brat! Now what? You haven't got anymore summer-shoes! Now Mum will have to buy more!" screeched Petunia, pinching her nose at the smell of Lily vomit. After Petunia and Lily cleaned up the sickening pile of regurgitated orange juice, Petunia _made _Lily take a shower, _made _her brush her teeth for four minutes, _made _her put pajamas on, _made _her eat some chicken soup, and _made _her sleep the rest of the day off.

"_Well? Aren't you going to practice magic or-" _began Voldemort, but Lily cut him off.

"I don't feel like it," said Lily.

"_You don't – don't – Well, what am I supposed to do, if not teach you to-"_

"Take a nap," Lily suggested, eyes drooping.

Inside Lily's mind, Voldemort opened his mouth to say that he was not going to take a nap, when he realized he was actually very tired.

"Fine," he snapped, "I'll take a nap." After making sure to slam the binoculars as hard as he could against the metal stool without breaking it, Voldemort strode off to his room, finding the idea of a warm bed very alluring.

* * *

It was a dream, Voldemort knew that much. Strange. He hadn't had any dreams for a long while. Well, any dreams other than Potter's slow, gruesome death and unbeatable power. He was walking through Diagon Ally, with no evil schemes or thoughts of extreme hatred going through his head. Very weird, that. The witches and wizards who tended to their daily business didn't seem to notice him.

"Freaks! Weirdos! Disgraces!" shrieked the voice of Petunia Evans. The crowd of magical folk seemed to disappear into thin air, giving Voldemort a clear view of the ten-year-old crazy girl. She was holding a box of matches. "Crazy! Freaky! Inhuman!" She lit a match, and threw it as hard as she could at a nearby store. It caught fire instantly, and screams of terror erupted from the building.

"Freaks," said Petunia, glaring at Voldemort, "freaks, freaks, freaks. FREAK!" Petunia advanced towards Voldemort. Did this child literally think she could defeat the all-powerful Voldemort? She shoved Voldemort, and to the former Dark Lord's surprise he fell backwards into a lake. Where is Slytherin's name did that lake come from? Oh, right. This was all a dream.

What was dragging him downwards? Voldemort risked a downwards glance. There were rocks tied to his feet.

"Voldie!" cried a voice that Voldemort was now familiar with. He looked up just in time to see Lily get stabbed in the back by Petunia.

"_FREAKS!" _shrieked Petunia.

All the sudden, the water was gone and Voldemort found himself standing in a spotlight, on a stage. He could hear people laughing and jeering at him, but he couldn't see them. A small hand slipped into his. Voldemort looked down to see Lily. She looked terrified.

"Ladies and gents," came the loud voice of Petunia. Voldemort's gaze snapped upwards. There was a giant version of Petunia, dressed like a ringmaster, twirling a cane overhead. "Here we have some _FREAKS!" _Petunia raised her foot, as if she planned to stomp on the two. Voldemort's stomach twisted uncomfortably.

"Voldemort, I'm scared," whispered Lily, just before Petunia's shoe came down upon them.

And then, Voldemort woke up. Sweet Merlin, he hadn't realized just how freaked out by Petunia he'd been. Voldemort shuddered, before sitting up and seeing, to his annoyance, Dumbledore, sitting at the table once again.

"Well, Tom. Isn't it nice to see you again?" Dumbledore said with a smile.

Voldemort scowled. "What do you want, old man?"

Dumbledore sighed. "Tom, you need to work harder to prevent the wars. It's been nearly half a week already," the former headmaster said.

"It's been three days, and Evans still needs to learn to control her magic more," snapped Voldemort. "And besides, who knows what kind of mistakes could be made if the process is rushed?"

"That is an excellent point, Tom," said Dumbledore. "Unfortunately, you only have a year to do this, and if you do keep going this slow, I fear you will fail." Voldemort rolled his eyes.

"Once Evans has her wand, I can put my plan into action. That could be tomorrow," Voldemort said.

"Ah, but," Dumbledore said, "Petunia has extremely remarkable observation skills. Did she not follow Lily to the cemetery because she realized that Miss Lily was faking? You two will have to stay on your toes if you want to get the job done without too many people getting involved." Voldemort rolled his eyes.

"I've realized that, old man," snapped Voldemort. "It's just that important things need to take time, and if they aren't taken seriously, they will be ruined." Dumbledore smiled pleasantly.

"I understand that, Tom," Dumbledore said, "But this is a matter that cannot go too slowly. I hope you can accept that." Then, right before his eyes, Dumbledore disappeared. Voldemort scowled.

"Ruddy old coot," muttered the former Dark Lord.

* * *

Lily opened her eyes groggily. If she'd been even a bit more groggy, she probably wouldn't have noticed that the ceiling above her was large, glass, and domed. But luckily, she did notice, and the sight jolted her awake.

It took a while for her to get over her shock. Eventually, Lily managed to lower her gaze from the glass ceiling and inspect the rest of her room, to see if anything else had changed. It had.

Her bedroom had to be at least three times larger than it had been when she went to sleep. In it was her dolls, all lined up neatly on a white shelf, book shelves upon book shelves full of books, many that looked like photo albums, a white table covered with a lacy tablecloth and a tea set. The walls were covered with pink-and-white floral wallpaper, and the floor was white and smooth, with many squishy carpets on it.

Slowly, Lily got out of her bed, which thankfully didn't look any different, and walked towards the door, which also looked the same. There was a nail in it, and something – a necklace, maybe? – was hanging on it. A note was attached.

The young girl yanked the note off the door and read it.

_Miss Lilly E.,_

_I'm sure this may come as a shock to you, but this is not your bedroom._

_This is the interior of your mind. You've slipped into the world of unconsciousness, but you're still restless. Let's say this is the world within __your head, hm? Now that you've become aware of it, I'm afraid that you'll probably slip into this world on several other occasions, depending on your state of mind._

_Voldemort's here, too. His domain is through the door you'll see after leaving this room. He's such a grumpy fellow, though, so I suggest you lay off. He's a lot more intimidating in person._

_Sincerely,_

_Albus Percival Wulfric Brian Dumbledore_

Lily read the note several times over, in case she'd misread. Whoa. She was inside her own mind. That was... pretty weird (she'd even go so far as to call it 'cool'), when she thought about it. Wait, did that mean that this room was... Sweet mother of syrup, did she actually _like _this kind of stuff? Huh. Or, this room could be based off her hates and/or dislikes, in which case... she actually wanted to torture herself? God, she didn't know anymore!

Resisting the urge to shudder, Lily removed the key from its place on the nail. Might as well see Voldemort while she was here, right? For the first time, Lily wondered what he looked like. She realized, suddenly, that she had been imagining him as a redhead with sickly skin and glasses, who always wore a scowl, but was that really how he looked?

After unlocking the door, Lily slowly turned the knob and opened it.

**To Realize Your Fears**


	7. My Mission is Better Than Yours

Disclaimer: Harry Potter © J.K. Rowling.

Chapter Seven

My Mission is Better Than Yours

The plain-looking hallway and open space (were those binoculars the ones Voldemort had mentioned that one time...?) were hardly what Lily had been expecting.

The only thing Lily found even the tiniest bit intriguing was the door, and that was probably only because she assumed that was where Voldemort was. Lily lifted her fist to knock, but stopped. What would she say when she actually _saw_ Voldemort? '_Oh, hey, Voldie! What's up? Listen, man, I just sorta fell asleep and woke up in my own brain, how far-out is that, am I right? So what's been goin' on with you?' _Lily shuddered. That was _probably_ not the best idea she'd ever had.

So, what now? Did she simply not knock and go back to her... domain? Or did she knock and go with the flow? Shrugging, Lily decided on the latter.

She knocked thrice, and waited for an answer. When the door opened, Lily realized that it was probably foolish of her to ever had assumed he'd be ginger.

He had pitch-black hair, his skin was practically white (though not sickly-looking), his eyes were an alarming red, and snake-like. Okay, the note on the door had been correct. He _was_ a lot more intimidating in person. Lily gulped quietly.

"Uh... hi," she said, feeling stupid. She'd feel better about actually meeting Voldemort if he wasn't just staring at her, glaring. "Voldemort?" His glare became more unsettling, if that was possible.

"What?" he snapped, making Lily feel a lot more relaxed. She allowed herself a small smile. "Well, don't just stand there grinning like an idiot: Are you going to explain _why _you're here or not?"

It took longer than necessary for Lily to explain about the note on the door. When Lily finished, Voldemort asked if it was signed.

"Yeah, I think so," Lily said, eyebrows drawn together. "I think it was Albert... Percival... Wolf-something-"

"Albus Percival Wulfric Brian Dumbledore?" asked Voldemort sharply. Lily, mouth hanging open, stared at him in shock for a moment, before nodding.

"I think so. Pretty weird name, now that I... Wait, do you _know _the guy?" Lily said, an eyebrow cocked. Voldemort shook his head.

"More on that later, Evans," said the former Dark Lord, putting an end to the discussion. "At least now making plans will be simpler, because you can just fall asleep now and won't have to worry about your sister eavesdropping," Voldemort continued. "Unless, of course, you wind up talking in your sleep, but you can always pass it off as a weird dream or something."

Lily nodded in agreement. It _would _be bad if she was sleep talking, but she could always pass it off as a dream, right? "Voldemort," Lily said as a new thought entered her mind, "how am I going to be able to sneak off to Knockturn Ally without Petunia-" Lily didn't notice Voldemort's tiny cringe, "-noticing?"

"You could always just wait for her to leave before going," he suggested. Lily mentally kicked herself. Why hadn't she thought of that?

"But what if Petunia's hiding by the cemetery like when she followed me?" asked Lily.

"Then I suppose you'll have to find a different place to summon for the Night Bus," Voldemort snapped, glaring. He obviously thought she was an idiot for not thinking of all this, but Lily didn't care at the moment.

"Um, Voldemort," Lily began, "when will we get to the important stuff? You know, stopping your past self from plunging the world into an endless abyss of pain and misery?

"As soon as you get your wand," said Voldemort. "Then we can put my plan into action."

* * *

Breakfast was a quiet time the next morning. Petunia glared at Lily from across the table, Missus Evans was eating quickly, because she had a dentist appointment later, and Mister Evans was studying some documents that his boss and dumped onto his lap the other day. Eventually, the silence became a bit much for Lily, so she attempted a conversation.

"Er... Petunia, what are you going to do today?" Lily asked. Petunia curled her lip at her sister.

"The norm," Petunia said, managing to make those two words some of the most terrifying Lily had heard yet.

"And what's 'the norm'?" asked Lily, a bit stiffly.

"The norm," growled Petunia.

"Petunia," sighed Missus Evans disapprovingly, "that is no tone for a lady to talk, especially to your sister. Why don't you finish your toast and go to the library later?"

"No thanks, Mum," Petunia said, staring at Lily with a look of hatred in her eyes, "I've got other things to do."

"Tunie, your ten years old," said Mister Evans, not looking up from his work, "what sort of _things_ could be so important that you wouldn't go to a huge building full of free books?"

"Dad, they're _really _important," Petunia said.

"Did you get a job or something? Wait, let me guess: You've become a girl scout," Mister Evans said, his face screwed into an expression of fake determination.

"No," sighed Petunia.

Mister Evans blinked, eyebrows raised. "No? Well, that's a relief; I don't know what I'd do if you _actually _joined the girl scouts, the thought makes me queasy. So what are you doing? Planning a murder?"

"Dad-" began Petunia.

"Wait, wait, wait! Let me guess again... AHA! You're _solving _a murder! Right? Like Sherlock Holmes?" said Mister Evans, barely hearing Lily when she said that she was going out.

"No, Dad, I-"

"I'm still guessing! It's a... a... You're friend was murdered and you plan on telling the police so that-"

"DAD! It doesn't have anything to do with murder!" Petunia interrupted.

Mister Evans blinked in surprise. "Nothing?" he asked. "Wait, _nothing? _If it doesn't have anything to do with murder, than what can you _possibly _be doing other than baking cookies that could be more important than the library?" he asked.

Meanwhile, Lily was speed-walking, backpack held to her chest, towards the dumpster behind the local drugstore. She kept looking over her shoulder to make sure that nobody was following her. If any people were around, and if Lily were older, they'd assume she had stolen something. Luckily, no one was around, and that was just what Lily wanted.

Ignoring the terrible stench coming from the dumpster, Lily raised her hand and the Night Bus appeared.

"The Drunken Pixie, lass?" said Stauntling, helping Lily onto the bus.

"Yep," said Lily.

"OI, ERN! It's the lil redhead 'gain! She wants to go to The Drunken Pixie!" called Stauntling over his shoulder. Lily sat down just before Ernie began driving very quickly and very recklessly towards The Drunken Pixie.

* * *

"I still don' like ya!" yelled the bartender after he gave Lily permission to change into her robes in the bathroom of The Drunken Pixie.

"The feeling the neutral," Lily said, giving him a mock-curtsey before stomping towards the bathroom.

Lily walked briskly to Jolly Jeff's Custom Wands. She hoped she wouldn't run into Lucius or Abraxas again. That would be really unfortunate and kind of exasperating.

"Hey, girlie! Here for your wand?" asked Jeff happily. Lily paid for the wand and Jeff handed it over.

As soon as Lily's hand closed around the wand, she felt a warm, tingly feeling go up her arm and through her body.

"Feel nice?" asked Jeff, grinning at her. Lily nodded, her mouth hanging open the tiniest bit. "Treat it good, little lady. Oh, and, could you recommend Jolly Jeff's Custom Wands to the next person you meet who needs a new wand? I don't get many new faces around here."

"Sure," promised Lily, holding her wand close to her heart. It felt so _right. _Like it was part of her hand or a stuffed animal she'd possessed since she was a baby.

On the way out, Lily bumped into – literally – Lucius Malfoy. "_Again?" _he asked, exasperated, as he picked himself up.

"Oh, please," sighed Lily, as she too got up. "Don't act like it's all butterflies and princesses for me either."

"I swear, Mudblood, you've _got _to be a stalker," whined Lucius.

"What about you? I was just getting some very important business done and you happened along. If anything, _you're _stalking _me," _sniffed Lily.

"Well, I've got important business to attend as well!"

"Oh yeah? Like what?"

"Getting Father's wand."

"Getting my own wand."

"I've also got to pick up some gillyweed and dragon hide for Father!"

"Well..."

"At loss for words, are we, Mudblood?"

Lily glared at Lucius. Her mission was a lot more important than some silly gillyweed or dragon hide. But if she just told him '_Hey! I have a Dark Lord in my head who says mean things about my brain and tells me that I have to help him stop his past self from plunging the magical world into a long, depressing war! Beat that, blondie!' _she would be deemed crazy and locked away.

"My mission is way more serious and demanding than yours!" snapped Lily.

"Fine," sniffed Lucius, "go live in some stupid fantasy-land where your job is more important than mine! Ruddy Mudblood..." Lily spat her tongue out at him while his back was turned.

"Now what?" asked Lily, her voice no lower than a mumble.

"_I suggest going back to home base for now, and then we can _finally _get on with the plan tomorrow morning," _said Voldemort. Lily didn't think that tomorrow could come soon enough.

Lily decided that, to celebrate her new wand, she was going to Diagon Ally to buy herself ice cream and read one of her spell books, completely casting Voldemort's suggestion aside.

"_Oh, please, Evans. Is this really the time to engorge yourself with chocolate ice cream? We have a mission, we have an enemy, we have a deadline, and how do you spend precious time that could be used to practice for whatever dangers lay ahead? Eat ice cream. Real wise, Evans, real wise," _rambled Voldemort as Lily licked her triple-chocolate-fudge ice cream, that was not only loaded with gummy-snakes and frozen strawberries, but peanuts, too.

"It's not just chocolate-" began Lily, but Voldemort cut her off.

"_It's triple-chocolate-fudge loaded with gummy-snakes, frozen strawberries and peanuts, yes, Evans, I know. Just go into a sugar-induced coma quickly so we can go, okay?" _snapped Voldemort.

_Wow, he must love the sound of his own voice, _thought Lily randomly as she chewed up a frozen strawberry. _Then again, isn't that normal for evil people?_

Lily made sure that she didn't have any ice cream on her mouth before walking back towards The Drunken Pixie. After exchanging a few insults with the bartender and changing into her Muggle clothes, Lily summoned the Night Bus.

"Back to the cemetery, redhead?" asked Stauntling.

Lily shook her head. "No, I actually want to go back to the dumpster behind the drugstore," said Lily. Stauntling nodded and yelled at the Earnie, and the Night Bus took off.

Lily walked briskly back to the house, scanning her surroundings in case Petunia had followed her. Luckily, she didn't find anyone and made it home without incident.

"Lily!" cried Missus Evans when Lily walked through the front door. "Where have you been? You weren't at the park, and you missed lunch. You had me worried sick."

"Sorry, Mum," apologized Lily. "I was out reading." It was true. She'd read a spell book while she ate ice cream.

"Where?"

"The ice cream parlor. I didn't really think much about going to the park today," Lily half-lied. She _had _been reading at an ice cream parlor, except she did it after arguing with a girlie-boy about whose mission was more important, receiving a wand, and sneaking into a secret magical community. But she mother didn't necessarily need to know that.

_Wow, I'm getting good at lying and telling the truth at the same time, _reflected Lily when her mother finally let her be. _Maybe I could use this against Tunie later...?_

**To Receive Something Good**

A.N./ Okay, I only just realized that I've been spelling 'Knight Bus' wrong this whole time. Unluckily for you, I'm too lazy to fix it. This chapter seems a bit too short for my liking, but whatever.

WG out


	8. Young Temporary-Mistress

Disclaimer: Harry Potter (c) J.K. Rowling.

Chapter Eight

Young Temporary-Mistress

A.N./ Wow. SOOOO sorry for the wait! I just got some serious writers block here, then I started lurking about other sites... Anyways, knock yourselves out!

WG out

_Lucius Malfoy,_

_You are to meet me at nine A.M. tomorrow, sharp, at The Leaky Cauldron. Come alone. Don't tell anyone where you'll be going. This is serious business and you cannot, no matter who asks, tell anyone who you will be meeting, no matter the costs. I seek your assistance and will not tolerate you tattling. If you do tell, I will personally see to your slow, painful death._

_I needn't tell you who I am. I will seek you out._

_Sincerely,_

_Anonymous_

Lucius studied the handwriting of the note. It seemed hurried, as if it had been written with a wand held to the writers head. Lucius reclined in the leather armchair, staring at the note. He'd overhead enough of his fathers meetings with the soon-to-be most feared Dark Lord alive to know that summons like these were, indeed, to be taken seriously.

"Damn," swore Lucius, standing up and crumbling the note into a small ball before throwing it into the fire.

* * *

Lily got barely any sleep the night before. Voldemort had kept her up practicing spells and going over his plan, which he had finally told Lily. It was rather straight forward, in Lily's opinion, but Voldemort had warned her that she would probably have to improvise at some point. Lily was just fine with that, as long a she got the job done.

Lily had left early, before anyone in her family was stirring. She'd left a note on the table in case they worried about her.

As Lily stumbled out of the Night Bus, she barely registered Stauntling wishing her luck with whatever she was up to over the orders Voldemort was barking at her. "_Don't walk too quickly, try to make it look like you're admiring the scenery, and whatever you do, don't tell anyone you see who you're meeting,"_ Voldemort said hurriedly. Lily made a quiet noise of understanding, and looked around to take in her surroundings. The Leaky Cauldron looked a lot more welcoming and child-friendly than The Drunken Pixie. Lily could see a number of cloaked individuals from her spot on the sidewalk. For a fleeting moment, Lily wondered why Voldemort had told to make it look like she was 'admiring the scenery'. It looked like a shabby old pub where drunk people were laughing at each other, nothing more, nothing less.

Nevertheless, Lily walked towards The Leaky Cauldron, searching for the white-blonde head of Lucius Malfoy. Voldemort made her sneak out late the other night to send a note that she'd scribbled down hurriedly. Apparently, sleep wasn't an option, because sleep was for losers.

Lucius was easy enough to spot. His strangely feminine, yet still manly, features and blonde head stood out in the crowd of witches and wizards. Lily pulled up her hood and tapped her collarbone, activating a charm that changed her voice to that of a boy. It wouldn't do for Lucius to know who she really was, would it?

Lucius was looking around, as if nervous. _Then he did receive the note,_ Lily thought dryly. _But was there ever any doubt?_ When Lily reached the table that Lucius was at, she tapped her gloved knuckles against the tabletop, making the older boy jump in surprise. He stared blankly at Lily for a moment.

"Who are...?" he began, but his eyes then filled with realization, and he glared. "You're a kid," he finished.

"Greetings, Mister Malfoy," Lily said. "I assume you received my note?" Lily spoke as if she was reading off something, or somebody was whispering the words to say into her ear. Lucius's glare deepened.

"Don't talk down to me. I hail from one of the oldest, purist magical family in the history of magi-" he was cut short by Lily.

"I speak for Riddle," she said. That was what Voldemort had ordered her to call him while she was blackmailing (she refused to call it 'persuading', as Voldemort had) Lucius. "Riddle needs your assistance." Lucius's eyes narrowed suspiciously.

"And who, pray tell, is Riddle?" asked the snooty Pure-Blood.

"Riddle will not tell," Lily said, almost robotic-like.

Lucius bristled. "Excuse me? I order you, as the heir to the Malfoy family, to tell me who Riddle is-"

"Riddle will _not _tell," Lily repeated, firmer this time. Lucius's mouth was a thin line now, his pale eyebrows were knotted together, and it dawned on him that this could be much more serious than he thought.

"What does _Riddle_ want?" whispered Lucius, darkly. Lily smirked inwardly.

"He wants into Malfoy Manor."

* * *

Getting into the manor was easy enough.

Apparently, Lucius's parents didn't go through the kitchen very often, so that was where he led her. She'd stared at the House Elves, who instantly began asking Lucius if he needed something. They all seemed very eager to please him, but the blonde waved them off.

"There," said Lucius. "You're in Malfoy Manor, satisfied?" Lily nodded.

"Riddle would be pleased if you did not mention our being here to your betters," said Lily. Lucius sneered when she said 'betters', but she could tell by the nervous glint in his eye that he didn't plan on telling anyone.

"Well?" Lily dared. "Leave! Riddle wishes to be left to his business." Lucius curled his lip at Lily, but left nonetheless.

He strutted out of the kitchens, slamming the door loudly behind him. As soon as he was out of earshot, a score of House Elves practically launched themselves at Lily.

"Would you like anything to eat, young temporary-mistress?"

"Does young temporary-mistress want something to drink? Hanky just squeezed some juice..."

"Little Toerag has made some cakes! Would you like one, young temporary-mistress?"

"Please, please," said Lily, a little frizzled by the attention. All of the House Elves eyes widened in amazement. No one had barely even uttered the word 'please' in their presence before, now a little girl said it twice – _to them._

Near the back of the herd of House Elves, the green eyes of one very opinionated House Elf watered in delight. "Young temporary-mistress has said please!" he cried, happily. "She has said please to all of us – _to Dobby!" _He giggled gleefully. While he spun and giggled in happiness, the other elves stared in shock.

"Um," said Lily, "there is something you could do for me..."

"Anything!" cried Dobby, who had pushed his way to Lily's feet. "Dobby shall do anything and everything he can for the young temporary-mistress! Name anything, and it shall be done!"

"Thank you, Dobby," smiled Lily. Dobby swayed in delight, only managing to keep his balance because Hanky helped him stay upright. Now he was being spoken to _as and equal!_

"Is there any secret way to the back room – where the Dark Lord stays?" asked Lily carefully. Dobby's eyes bulged in amazement.

"T-to He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named's quarters, or to where he makes speeches and announcements?" whispered Dobby.

"Speeches and announcements," said Lily.

Dobby gulped. Ever the rebellious one, the green-eyed House Elf took a sweeping bow, and said, "Follow Dobby, young temporary-mistress! Dobby shall show you a secret passage."

_Not really secret, though, _thought Dobby as he led the kind young temporary-mistress through the kitchens. _But Dobby doesn't think she needs to know that._ "Here Dobby and you is, young temporary-mistress!" said the elf, gesturing at a wall lined with cupboard doors. Lily gazed at them.

Seeing that she was lost, Dobby opened the cupboard door beside him, revealing a small, dirt tunnel. "It isn't very clean," apologized Dobby, "but it will get the young temporary-mistress to the Hall!"

Lily smiled. "Thank you, Dobby," said Lily again. "I'm really grateful for this." Dobby beamed at her, and beckoned Lily into the tunnel.

Once Lily got down on all fours, it was easy for her to move through the tunnels. She was only nine, and even Dobby was taller than her that way.

By the time Lily reached another cupboard door, the front of her robes was covered with dirt and her face was covered by a sheen of sweat. "_Remember," _said Voldemort, "_the only thing we're here for today is to eavesdrop. I can't remember what exactly happens down there, but I know it is the first official meeting. Be prepared to run at a moments notice." _Lily muttered a word of understanding, and took a deep breath.

Slowly and quietly as she could, she opened the cupboard door a crack, just enough for her to peek out of.

The Hall was a large, dimly-lit room. A sleek, black table was positioned in the middle, surrounded by many seats. Below Lily's head was a throne-like chair. From her perch up above, she could see the face of Abraxas Malfoy. The rest were unfamiliar.

A huge, green snake slithered its way towards the throne-like chair. A pale hand reached out and stroked its head. _No doubt Voldemort, _thought Lily. The snake hissed something to its master.

"According to Nagini," said the other Voldemort, "the snakes 'round the Ministry say that the awareness level on Unforgivable Curses have dropped a notch since McButtony died in that unfortunate... accident." The people who sat around the table laughed a bit nervously. They were obviously scared stiff of him.

"_Ah, yes, McButtony," _said Lily's Voldemort. "_He used to work in the Unforgivable Curse protection ward. I believe Walburga Black – the woman there with the untamed, graying hair? – killed him, and made it look like an accident."_

"It came to my attention the other day," continued Voldemort, silencing the forced laughter, "that Potter has refused the invitation to our little... group. Malfoy, Lestrange, you are to do a little convincing. Just don't make it too public, and try not to kill anyone unless you deem it necessary, understand?"

"Yes, my Lord," said Abraxas and Lestrange in unison.

"_Wow, I sound like a prick. Who do I think I am? You'd think I was a fictional antagonist, with that way of speaking," _ranted Voldemort. Lily screwed up her face in concentration. She had to hear what they were saying...

Voldemort excused Abraxas and Lestrange, and the two left, bowing as they walked backwards through the large, dark oak doors. It looked ridiculous, and Lily had to stifle a giggle, but in the process, her shoulder bumped against the cupboard door and it opened up the tiniest bit.

And Nagini saw.

"_Massssster..." _hissed Nagini to Voldemort.

"_What, Nagini?" _asked Voldemort in Parseltongue.

"_I sssssee a child... a ssssspying child," _replied the snake. Voldemort's forehead twitched the tiniest bit, making his remaining followers cringe, and wonder just what that snake was saying to its master.

"_Where?"_

"_A sssssecret passsssage, in the wall," _hissed Nagini, jerking its head in Lily's direction.

"_Shit," _said Lily's Voldemort. "_Evans, run for your life." _Lily didn't wait to be told again. She turned around just in time to hear the other Voldemort bark orders at his followers. She crawled as fast as she could towards the kitchens.

By the time she crawled out, she was covered in dirt and sweat. And the she was flocked by House Elves. She pushed through the crowd of tiny creatures. "I've got to go, quickly!" she panted, running to the exit.

"_For the love of Merlin, Evans! Get your wand ready!" _snapped Voldemort, angrily. Lily fumbled for her wand as she ran. Gripping her weapon tight, Lily opened the door, and ran across the yards with all her might.

She trampled three flowerbeds by the time the first spell was fired at her. It was as red as her hair, and missed her head by inches. Calls of 'there she is!' and 'get her!' followed Lily as numerous spells were shot at her.

"_FIGHT BACK!"_ shouted Voldemort in Lily's head.

"_Contego! Inflingo!" _yelled Lily. Two of Voldemort's followers were knocked down, but Lily tripped in the process of casting the spells. She was grabbed and pulled roughly to her feet by one of Voldemort's cronies – Walburga.

"Well, well," hissed Walburga mockingly, her wand held to Lily's throat. "'Lil eavesdropper, are you, lass?" She spat in Lily's face. "The Lord don't take kindly to eavesdroppers!"

Lily did the only thing she could think of. She shoved her finger in Walburga's face and shouted, "Avada Kedavra!" and shot bright green sparks out of her hand. Walburga screamed shrilly and let go of Lily.

The young girl wasted no time getting to her feet and, scooping up her wand on the way, sprinting away. She shot magic out of her hands to shoot herself upwards when she reached the front gate, and, still airborne, cast an invisibility spell on herself.

"Well," muttered Lily as she ran as quietly as she could away from Malfoy Manor, "that mission was a complete fluke."

"_Not completely," _said Voldemort.

"Yeah?" muttered Lily.

"_Yes. We know that we need to get to Potter Manor now."_

**To Take Risks**


	9. Dead-Munchers at the Potters

Disclaimer: Harry Potter (c) J.K. Rowling.

Chapter Nine

Dead-Munchers at the Potters

Potter Manor was a rather modest home, compared to the Malfoys.

It was a cottage wedged in between two tree-covered hills. In the afternoon sun, Lily's shadow was long enough to reach the end of the front door.

"_Remember your cover story?" _said Voldemort.

"My name is Amelia Rye and I'm lost," said Lily, her stomach turning at the thought of trying to help the Potters defend themselves against a bunch of Death Eaters.

"_Amanda Rye, you fool," _said Voldemort. "_And you didn't mention how you got lost."_

"I was enjoying a picnic with my older brother and we decided to play hide-and-seek and I got lost looking for him," said Lily. Voldemort grunted in satisfaction.

"_At least you got that part right. Remember, Amanda. Not Amelia," _said Voldemort. Lily nodded and took a few steps towards the front door.

Unfortunately, it was opened by a boy – probably around Lily's age – with messy brown hair and hazel eyes. He blinked behind his rectangular glasses, surprised at the fact that someone was in his yard. "Who're you?" he demanded.

Lily put on her tear-face. "I... I'm lost, and-"

She was cut off. "MUM!" called the boy. "THERE'S A GIRL ON THE DOORSTEP AND SHE'S CRYING! WHAT DO I DO?"

There was a shrill, "Tell her to leave!" from the house, and the boy looked at Lily again. "Mum says you have to go. Sorry." He promptly slammed the door.

Lily stared at the door for a while, before jumping when Voldemort snapped at her to go knock. She did. "_And you know what? Screw cover-stories – warn them." _Lily didn't have time to nod, because at that moment, the door was answered again by the messy-haired boy.

"MUM!" he called over his shoulder. "THE GIRL IS BACK BUT SHE LOOKS MAD THIS TIME! WHAT DO I DO?"

"TELL HER YOU DON'T WANT TO BUY ANY OF HER DISGUSTING COOKIES!"

"I'm not selling any-" began Lily, but the boy cut her off.

"SHE'S NOT SELLING COOKIES, MUM!"

"TELL HER WE'RE NOT INTERESTED IN ANY OF THE GARBAGE SHE'S TRYING TO SELL!"

"Mum told me to tell you we're not interested in any of the garbage you're selling," said the boy. "My name is James, by the way. James Potter. Who're you?"

"No time for that, you're family is in danger," said Lily.

"MUM! SHE'S SAYS THAT WE'RE IN DANGER!" called James. There was a loud _thump _and _crash _from somewhere in the house and soon a woman who looked like James, except with blonde hair, was standing in the doorway.

"Are you _threatening _us?" she demanded.

Lily sighed inwardly. "No, Missus Potter. The Dark Lord's followers are coming and I came to warn-"

"CHARLES! CHARLES, THERE'S A LITTLE GIRL HERE WHO THINKS THAT GELLERT GRINDELWALD IS STILL ALIVE!" screamed Missus Potter. There was another _thump _and a second _crash _and Mister Potter was soon standing beside his wife.

"Who do you think you are?" he demanded, running his hand through his messy black hair. "Comin' to my house and threatening my family with ridiculous claims – like 'the Dark Lord's followers are coming'. Grindelwald died decades ago."

"I'm not talking about Gellert Grindelwald!" said Lily. "I'm talking about Lord Voldemort!"

Mister Potter sighed. "Little miss, there is no Dark Lord and his followers are not-" He was cut off by a bright red curse hitting him square in the chest. Missus Potter screamed shrilly and James stared in shock.

Lily, however, took action.

* * *

Walburga was excited about getting her clammy hands around the red-haired brats neck. Little shit had faked the Killing Curse and almost gave her a heart attack.

Because the brat had overheard their meeting, Lord Voldemort had sent all of them to the Potter estate instead of just a few. The red-haired eavesdropper, it seemed, had gotten there before them. Walburga insisted on being in the first wave – she wanted to get back at that snot-nosed brat as soon as possible.

Walburag saw the little cunt instantly. Her red hair was good at doing that. The kid was running away, into the forest it seemed, while Missus Potter yelled for her son to hide in the house while she bent over her husbands unconscious body.

An insane grin tugged at Walburga's mouth. She was going to enjoy this.

* * *

Lily ran through the thick woods, forehead creased as she listened to the orders Voldemort was giving her. She heard loud yells of incantations from behind and she ducked behind a fallen log.

A few moments past in which Lily kept her breathing quiet and listened to the Death Eaters shout and spew spells and incantations. She wondered, for a fleeting moment, if they knew how to cast nonverbal spells. Judging by all the noise they were making, they did not.

Lily held her breath when she heard leafs crunching under someones feet.

"Come out, little Mudblood," came Walburga's voice, her tone coaxing but still lethal. "Mama Wally don't bite..."

"_Evans," _Voldemort said, "_when I give the word, you jump out and use the actual Killing Curse on Walburga. Don't fake anything, understand?" _Lily gulped quietly as her sweaty hands tightened around her wand. Walburag's footsteps were getting closer.

"_Now."_

Lily jumped out from behind the log, wand aimed at the witch, and shouted, "_OBLIVIATE!" _The spell hit Walburag before she could react and the old witch fell to the leaf-covered floor.

Voldemort spewed a long series of swear words, some of which Lily had never even heard before then. "_Fool! I said kill her! You did not. Now what will we do?" _asked Voldemort.

"I Obliviated her," said Lily. "Now when she wakes up she'll remember-"

"_Evans, I doubt anyone, even someone as talented as yourself, could have casted an Obliviation that strong. She'll probably remember you faking the Killing Curse on her and hunt you down again. Now kill her now before the others realize something is wrong," _Voldemort said crossly. Lily bit her lip and pointed her wand at Walburga.

She'd never considered having to kill anyone before. She assumed she could just run and hide, never having to utter the death words with her wand aimed. Lily realized now how foolish that was.

She was on a quest to stop a Dark Lord.

People tended to die on quests like hers.

The words were on the tip of Lily's tongue, begging to dance off and through her lips, but Lily's throat seemed to have swelled up on the inside. She could barely breathe.

"_Kill her. Now," _urged Voldemort.

Lily managed to take a deep breath. "_Ava-" _

"What are you doing?" interrupted James. Lily screamed in shock and dropped her wand. Her scream made James scream. He fell, honest-to-God, out of a tree. He hit the ground with a soft _thump _and groaned as he sat up.

Lily's face paled when she heard a Death Eater cry, "Over there!" Lily swore like Voldemort, making James squeak, and scooped up her wand.

"Come on," said Lily, grabbing James by his sleeve and running away, taking the boy with her. "We gotta run now!"

"_This wouldn't be happening if you'd just killed her when I said to," _Voldemort commented casually as the children ran for the hills, literally. James was leading now, having sensed the danger, and was leading Lily towards the hills. Lily could tell Voldemort was infuriated by her hesitance.

A bright yellow spell zipped between Lily and James and the two toppled over in shock.

Abraxas Malfoy stood over them, wand aimed at Lily. "Funny that it should be a Mudblood to cause so much havoc," he said, his tone similar to the one Voldemort had used. "No matter. _Avada Ke-" _He suddenly yelped in pain and fell over, struggling to breath. James had kicked him be tween the legs.

"Let's go," said the young boy. Lily didn't wait to follow.

It didn't take long for several other Death Eaters to start shooting random spells at the duo. Lily and James weaved in and out of the trees, slowly climbing their way up the hill. It was obvious that James was leading Lily to a certain spot. Where, she had no clue.

Three Killing Curses were shot at the same time. James was obviously the physical type and dodged the spells with ease. Lily had to duck behind an old oak tree to avoid instant death, but in doing so she fell behind.

She didn't call for James to wait. That would mean he'd have to stop running, making him more or less a sitting duck. Lily ran head-on after James.

"This way," called the young boy over his shoulder. Lily pushed foreword, a thing she wouldn't have been able to do if not for the merciless adrenaline pumping through her small body and Voldemort sassing her ruthlessly all the way.

The children slipped into a hallow tree, which was thick enough to hide a bicycle behind and tall enough to be a house. The entrance was hidden, and by the time the Death Eaters came around both youths were hidden and silent.

James and Lily held their breath. The top of the tree was open, so they could see by the light that seeped in. It was probably James' hideout or something, judging by the candy wrappers and posters all over it. A filthy, yet plush, makeshift rug covered the ground.

Lily could hear Abraxas and Walburga, who must have regained her senses by then, talking.

"I swear as soon as I get my hands on that little Mudblood, I'll kill her. Slowly, painfully, and I swear I'll fake the Killing Curse on her..." rambled Walburga.

"Pureblood or not, I have dibs on Potter. Boy should learn to respect his elders," commented Abraxas.

"Yep. His elders and their privets."

"Quiet, Walburga, or I might Obliviate you like the Mudblood did so you won't remember anyone telling you about... that. They don't seem to be here. Let's look somewhere else."

"Oh, the Dark Lord will have our heads if we don't make this mission a success..."

They heard the duo walk away. They held completely still for several moments afterwords, just to be safe.

James suddenly began looking for something in the piles of garbage, posters, action-figures and other oddments. "So," he said as he searched for whatever it was he was searching for, "you weren't being nutters when you said that the Dark Lord's followers were comin'. Good to know. You fly?"

"_He means, is it within your mental capabilities to learn how to fly a broomstick," _explained Voldemort.

"I haven't before, but I could figure it out," said Lily.

James retrieved a broomstick from his hideout. "Good. Use this and fly away. I need to go see if my parents are okay," said James. Lily felt irritation explode in the pit of her stomach.

"No way," said she. "I can fire a spell, you know. How old are you? Eight?"

James glared defiantly and puffed his chest out. "I'm nine years old. How old are you?"

Lily glared. "I'm... ten," she lied. "Now shut up and listen to me – you either stay here and be miserable or I'm going with you, understand?"

James opened his mouth in objection, but Lily cut him off.

"I do not want to hear it," she snapped, standing up straight and glaring down at the boy. "I go with you to keep your butt out of trouble, or you stay here and wait for me to come back with a report."

_They bicker like they're married already,_ thought Voldemort randomly. He sighed inwardly. He was looking at the two people who would parent his downfall, and all he could think about was their style of bickering? Voldemort wondered if he should inform Lily of her future. He decided against it. '_Listen, Mudblood, when you're all grown up and in your early twenties you'll give birth to the boy who killed me the first time around. And that James Potter kid there is your husband. Drinks all around!'_ He suppressed a mortified shudder. No. Definitely not.

James closed his mouth, and after a moment of mental conflict, he nodded. "Fine," he said. "But if those... dead-munchers or whatever beat you up, don't blame me."

"_Dead-munchers?" _repeated Voldemort in disbelief. "_Death Eaters, dammit! Not 'dead-munchers'. Doesn't this boy have any respect for those who want to kill him?"_

James mounted the broom and Lily sat behind him, arms locked around his waist. "I should tell you," he said, "I've never really rode a broom with anyone before, so... don't fall off, okay?"

"Believe me, I had no intentions of doing so," said Lily, in a tone that shocked her. She sounded eerily like Voldemort. He was rubbing off on her. She mentally kicked herself.

* * *

Charles Potter and his wife, whose name was Elizabeth, sat huddled in their home. Charles was still recovering from the curse that he had been hit with, and Elizabeth had a nasty, blood-covered gnash in the side of her face.

The Death Eaters had snapped the couples wands and held them at their mercy.

"Your kid ain't as lucky as you," hissed a female Death Eater. "We messed him up good, we did. You," she paused to pat Elizabeth's head, "look like an angel in white compared to what we did to those brat-"

A murky-brown spell hit the Death Eater in the back and she fell to the floor, making an odd gurgling noise with her mouth. The other Death Eaters snapped into action, firing random spells and curses in the direction of which the murky-brown light had come from.

Elizabeth tugged on Charles' sleeve and the two began inching away, but one Death Eater saw and kicked Charles in the stomach. It knocked the wind out of him and Elizabeth shrieked in objection. The noise earned her a kick to the side of the head.

Unbeknownst to all in the Potter estate, James and Lily were sneaking around the room. Lily was firing silent spells as to confuse the Death Eaters, and James was doing the same. Both still had adrenaline in their systems and thanks to that, they could dodge the Death Eaters retaliations.

James was soon behind his parents. He tapped his father on the shoulder and put a finger to his lips, a gesture that meant, _Pretend I'm not here. _Charles understood and stayed quiet. James aimed his wand (which his mother had bought him the year before, lying and saying it was a spare one for herself so James could use it) and muttered an incantation quietly. Three Death Eaters fell to the floor, fast asleep.

James caught a glimpse of Lily's red hair as she dashed between an end table and one of the many armchairs that covered the Potter home. Another five Death Eaters suddenly fell asleep (they had been panicking because of the other three, too much for them to notice Lily), thus putting most of the 'dead-munchers' within the Potter estate fast asleep. The rest had fled already.

* * *

Dumbledore was distraught. He sat in his office, chin resting on his chest, as he tried and failed for the most part to make sense of his predicament.

He saw a dog earlier than day. He had said hello to it and it began barking at him. Dumbledore simply didn't understand. Was barking a normal form of polite greeting in dog-speak, or was the dog just particularly bitter?

Not regarding the dog, Dumbledore had been approached by a young girl, probably no more than six years old, who had looked so worried it was almost sick. She had been Sybill Trelawney, descendant of Cassandra Trelawney...

* * *

"Mister Dumbledore?" said a quiet, young voice.

Dumbledore put the balls of pink-and-magenta yarn he had been inspecting back where he found them and looked down to see a small girl, who wore goggles that made her eyes seem several times larger. She wore a shawl that had many a bead sewn to it.

"Yes?" he inquired, giving the young girl a grandfatherly smile.

"I... I'm Sybill Trelawney," she said. She was looking this way and that. The poor child looked worried sick.

"Ah, yes," smiled Dumbledore, eyes twinkling. "You're related to Cassandra Trelawney, aren't you?"

She nodded. Dumbledore said, "What do you need, Sybill?"

Sybill bit her lower lip and gestured for Dumbledore to lean down so she could whisper in his ear. The elderly headmaster did so. "I... _saw_ a bunch of mean-looking people chase after two little kids in a forest," she said. "I could tell on was a Potter – I saw his hair. But I didn't recognize the girl. About her... I could sense even in the vision that someone else was inside of her."

Dumbledore frowned. Sybill was young, but she was descended from one of the most well-accomplished Seers in the world. "Tell me about this 'someone else'," said Dumbledore.

"It was gray," said Sybill. "It loomed over her, and it spoke. I could sense anger and irritation off of it. Mister Dumbledore..." She tugged almost desperately on the corner of Dumbledore's robes. "Do you know what it means?"

Dumbledore did not.

**To Order a Kill**


	10. Severus Snape's Big Debut

Disclaimer: Harry Potter (c) J.K. Rowling.

Chapter Ten

Severus Snape's Big Debut

**A.N./ Sorry for the wait, BUT, this chapter has Severus in it! That counts for something, right?**

**Also... on my profile, there's a Poll to see if Petunia should share a body with anyone, and with whom. /hinthinthint/ I also apologize for the shortness of this one, but whatever. Read on, my wee minions!  
**

Lily had earned herself quite an earful for coming home after dark. Her parents had been ready to call the police when she'd finally returned.

Petunia smiled into her pillow, as she could still hear their mother scolding Lily from her bedroom. No doubt she'd have the sense grounded out of her, or in.

She fell asleep with a feeling of victory in her heart.

* * *

The first thing Petunia noticed when she opened her eyes was that something was wrong. Very, very, almost stupidly wrong.

She sat up and rubbed her eyes. Her room was the same as it was when she went to sleep. But something in the air wasn't right. A smell, maybe? Petunia sniffed the air, and realized that her bedroom smelled strongly of vanilla extract. No... someone had made pancakes.

Petunia climbed out of her bed. Why was Missus Evans making pancakes? Petunia was far from doted upon, and Lily had disregarded just about every single rule their parents had set the other night. An apology, maybe? What did their parents have to apologize for? Lily was the one who should be apologizing. Perhaps Lily had made pancakes?

Nevertheless, Petunia walked out of her room and down the stairs. To her surprise, Missus Evans was the one who had made pancakes.

"Tunie, you're up," smiled the mother. Lily was sitting at the table, looking particularly jumpy for some reason. Missus Evans was making more pancakes at the stove, and by the looks of things (and the extreme lack of loud _Star Wars_ references in the house), Mister Evans had left for work already.

"Mum," said Petunia as she sat down next to Lily, who looked almost horrified up close, "why are you making pancakes?"

"What?" smiled Missus Evans. "Are pancakes not fancy enough compared to your breakfast cereal?"

Petunia opened her mouth to ask why she was making breakfast the day after Lily had come home several hours after she was supposed to, but thought better of it. Lily had probably used her freak-powers to convince their mother that she did not come home after midnight, and yes, yes she did deserve some pancakes.

Petunia shot Lily her very best 'I-know-you-know-I-know' glare. Lily made a confused face back at her.

Little did Petunia know how accurately she'd guessed – Lily had Obliviated their mother and convinced her that she'd been home for hours. The young girl was extremely uncomfortable under her sisters knowing glare.

"_Calm down, you fool,"_ snapped Voldemort, who was getting very tired of watching Lily's breakfast grow cold through the binoculars. It occurred to him that he hadn't eaten in... well, almost a week and a half. "_If you hate your sister that much, make an excuse and flee. In fact, we should probably track rumors in Knockturn Alley. Wizards are terrible gossips, and after yesterdays little... adventure, almost everyone will be talking about it."_

Lily took his advice to heart. "I gotta go," she said, leaving the table.

"Where to?" demanded Petunia in a sugary-sweet tone that made Lily want to show her the pancakes she'd eaten.

"The park," said Lily. "Why?" Before Lily knew it, Petunia was skipping after her.

"Wait there," she said. "I am coming, too." The older of the two pranced away to change her attire. Lily would have left anyway, but one sharp look from her mother and the girl knew she would have to go with Petunia.

* * *

Severus had been watching her for a while now, planning and planning, and eagerly awaiting the day (that he'd even marked on the calender, despite his mothers objections) when he would introduce himself.

He'd picked up a lot of her and her personal life in his five years of watching (which he refused to call 'stalking'). Her name was Lily Evans, she was his age, _obviously_ a witch, short-tempered, wanted a dog to call 'Snoopy', and her favorite color was green, like those pretty, pretty eyes of hers.

Severus was concerned now, though. Lily had a big argument with her older sister (Petunia Evans, almost eleven years old, wanted a cat instead of a dog, thought 'Snoopy' was a horrid name for any animal...) and then, after storming off, she hadn't come to the park in almost two weeks. Lily was Severus' _salvation._ An escape from the dull, gray life he led, with a magic-hating father and a mother who was tolerable at best, and into a fuzzy dreamland where unicorns sang pop songs and he wasn't nearly as greasy.

The young bat-like boy was distraught by her absence. What if she'd died? What if she had come down with a serious magical illness that no Muggle healers could cure? Severus was becoming more and more panicked as more and more horrifying thoughts rolled through his head. Maimed? Lost in the wilderness? Held hostage by a pedophile whom shamelessly used her a sex-toy?

This is why he rejoiced when he heard Petunia's unmistakably shrill voice. If Petunia was here and making _those_ sounds, than Lily must have come with her! He made a fist of victory and turned in the direction of the savage cries that Petunia called 'talking'.

He spotted the two sisters walking side-by-side and arguing loudly. A small and rare smile tugged on the boys mouth. He quickly dashed away, towards the greenery that park supplied, and reviewed his plan. He wanted to tell Lily she was a witch with _just_ the right amount of affect...

* * *

Lily didn't know how she'd been persuaded to go on the swing-set – but since Petunia had insisted so _forcefully,_ she decided to give her sister what-for.

Lily made sure that her sister could see her swinging back and forth higher than any nine-year-old should be able to. Petunia's face paled a shade or two, as she exclaimed, "Lily, don't! Mummy said not to! Stop using it!"

"Stop using what?" asked Lily, with too much innocence dripping off her tone to be truly ignorant. Maybe she'd have said something else – but Voldemort's influence had been rubbing off on her. Sarcasm was a gift, one she fully intended to use and admire until she was old and gray.

Petunia jumped off the swing-set, now red in the face. "You know what!" she exploded at her. "You're a freak!"

Lily scowled inwardly. "_My, she certainly is rather... passionate about this,"_ commented Voldemort casually.

Lily ignored him. "I am not!" she insisted. "You're just saying that because you can't do it!"

Petunia spat in the grass in a very unladylike manner. "I don't want to," she claimed.

Before their bickering could proceed, a small boy who greatly resembled a large bat jumped into view, from behind a clump of bushes. He opened his mouth to speak, but whatever he said, Lily didn't hear over Voldemort's sudden outburst. "_Oh, Merlin! Why did it have to be Snape?"_ Lily wasn't in a secure area where she could ask Voldemort what was wrong with this 'Snape' boy, but she wondered just that for a fleeting moment. She came back down to Earth just in time to hear 'Snape' say, "You're a witch!"

Lily put on her 'I will take that as a challenge' face. "If I'm a witch," she said, hoping that Voldemort was listening, "than are you a wizard?"

"_He is."_

"I am. I'm Severus Snape," said Severus. Lily briefly wondered if all magical folk had weird names like 'Voldemort Evans' and 'Severus Snape'. What next? 'Disegleirio'? She didn't ponder this long, though.

"Okay," continued Lily, "if so, do magic. Go on!" Severus paused, before bending over to pluck a flower from the ground. He stared at it for a moment, before it caught fire and burnt to ash in the air.

"Magic," smirked Severus, "in its most purest, unadulterated form." Lily scoffed.

"Amateur."

Voldemort felt a quite unexpected burst of panic. "_Evans, cut that out. The magical world must see you as just another Muggle-Born witch, understand? You are walking on very thin ice."_ Lily mentally slapped herself for Voldemort's sake.

"Pardon?" asked Severus, coming closer. "What can you do, then?"

Lily plastered a grin on her face and thrust her hands at Petunia, whose hair promptly turned purple. Petunia shrieked.

"I'm telling Mum!" cried Petunia as she began running in the direction of the Evans house. Lily giggled as she watched her sister run away, and turned back to Severus.

"Impressive," said Severus, eyebrows raised. He'd once tried to turn the family rat yellow, to make it more interesting, but had failed miserably with his mother cackling in his ear.

Lily smirked in victory.

"_Leave."_ Voldemort's order was flat and imposing, and Lily found herself leaving.

"Nice meeting you, Sev," she hollered, the nickname coming naturally, "but I gotta split. See ya!"

Severus waved goodbye to her, and watched her go. Lily ran quite a ways away before Voldemort spoke again.

"_'Sev'?"_ he repeated, disbelievingly. "_Where in the name of Merlin did _that_ come from?"_ Lily giggled.

"Well, if you're that jealous of him for having a pretty nickname and you not, than I could always call you-"

"_Don't say it."_

"-something along the lines of-"

"_I'm warning you, Evans—"_

"-'Voldie'!" Lily giggled at the silence that followed her words. After a few moments, she frowned. "Voldie? You there?"

"_... It's Tom."_ Voldemort – no, Tom – finally said. Lily, despite herself, managed a smile.

"_Now get to Knockturn Alley – we need to track rumors."_ Lily sighed as she resumed playing puppet for Tom.

* * *

Sybil trotted beside Dumbledore, her tiny hand wrapped in his aged and wrinkled one. "Are you sure this is where you sensed the... 'gray thing'?" asked Dumbledore, peering down at Sybil with a friendly smile.

Sybil chewed the end of her thumb and nodded, surveying the tiny neighborhood. "It is strong her, Mister Dumbledore," she whispered.

"I see. Lead me?" said Dumbledore, in such a friendly voice that wee little Sybil managed a tiny smile. She began dragged Dumbledore behind her as she made her way to the gray thing.

As she approached it, she felt her head begin to feel funny. Like her brain was swelling up and there were pins on the inside of her skull. In no time she'd have an awful headache. Sybil hoped that Dumbledore would be able to help her quickly.

Soon the two were at the park, and Sybil's eyes glazed over, staring at everything and nothing.

Dumbledore was concerned for her. "Sybil, my child, are you okay?" he bent low and placed a hand on her forehead. Upon contact, Sybil's mouth snapped open and a raspy voice that was anything but her own spoke:

"_'Sev'? Where in the name of Merlin did that come from? Don't say it- I'm warning you, Evans-!"_ Sybil promptly fainted.

Dumbledore, ever calm in situations like these, though he was not in them often, picked Sybil's unconscious body up and – after making sure no Muggles were present, disapparated.

But he was delighted. At least now he had a lead. 'Evans.' He'd have to look into that.

**To Meet Someone New**


	11. Door-To-Door Dumbledore

Disclaimer: Harry Potter (c) J.K. Rowling.

Chapter Eleven

Door-To-Door Dumbledore

Voldemort was very displeased. He stared daggers at the newspaper laid before him, atop the table. Around him, his Death Eaters sat still as age old rocks, fearing their master's wrath.

"Who let this information leak?" he demanded after another moment of deadly silence. "This could have exposed me, and as Lord Voldemort's reign is not fully ready yet, my entire plan could have collapsed. Lucky for you all, wizards are foolish and the story is incomplete and inaccurate."

Several Death Eaters gulped, but their mouths were so dry that there was nothing to swallow. They all knew that glint in Voldemort's eye – it meant that everyone was going to be tortured, or the culprit would die. The Death Eaters, caring more about themselves than others, decided to pin the blame on someone.

"Milord," said Walburga Black, tentatively.

"What is it, Black?" demanded Voldemort, red eyes flashing.

Again, the witch gulped nervously. She bowed her head, too scared to even look him in the face. "I... I know who let the information slip," she lied. "It was... Rookwood, my lord."

Near the end of the long, sleek table, Rookwood felt as if Walburga had cast a freezing spell on him. He couldn't move. Voldemort's gaze shifted from Walburga to Rookwood.

"Is this true, Rookwood?" demanded Voldemort quietly.

It took a moment before any noises could come out of Rookwood's slack mouth. "O-of course not, my lord. Walburga lies!"

Voldemort was silent for a moment, but Rookwood did not dare consider that Voldemort believed him. His record was less than stellar, and Walburga was a passionate follower of the Dark Lord.

"_Crucio,"_ Voldemort said dully. Pain exploded from inside Rookwood's body, and a scream ripped out of his body and into the open air.

* * *

During these dastardly events, Lily was sitting in front of the telly, sipping a fizzy-drink as she watched the whether forcast.

"_What's the point of this show anyway?"_ demanded Tom. "_They're just __saying the same thing over and over, in different ways. 'Rain, rain, clouds and thunder. Now look at this dead cat'! Honestly. Why can't we do something more productive?"_

"Because," said Lily quietly, trying not to let her parents in the other room hear, where Petunia was being scolded for supposedly dying her hair purple, just like the day before, "I need to recover from being informed of my magical abilities. Quite a shock, you know."

Tom knew she just didn't feel like going to Knockturn Alley, but kept his mouth shut. Rushing headlong into these things could result only in disaster. He needed to thoroughly plan out his next move, anyway.

The doorbell rang. "I'll get it," called Lily, standing and striding to the door. She answered and was greeted by a long, silver beard.

"Uh... Can I help you?" asked Lily with a cocked eyebrow.

Albus Percival Brian Wulfric Dumbledore smiled back at her. Of course, she didn't know this, but she assumed, based on Tom's waterfall of colorful swear words, this man was bad news.

Dumbledore smiled a twinkly smile at her. "Hello, little girl," said he. He gestured to the girl beside him, who resembled a giant, beady insect. "This is Sybill Trelawney and I am Albus Dumbledore."

Lily smiled back, playing innocent. "Oh, well. Nice to meet you." She began to close the door, but Dumbledore stopped it with his foot.

"Please listen," he said, making eye contact with Lily.

"_Don't look into his eyes,"_ warned Tom, and Lily quickly complied, changing her gaze to her sandaled feet.

"Look, mister, Mum doesn't like door-to-door salesmen and she has this really big frying pan..." Dumbledore continued smiling, and she swore she saw his twinkliness go up a notch.

Dumbledore chuckled and Sybill stared at Lily like she had two heads. Or two different consciousness' inside one head. "I am no door-to-door salesman, little girl," he said, proceeding to squat down to eye-level with Lily. She averted his gaze, instead focusing on his eyebrows.

"Can you keep a secret?" Dumbledore whispered to her, and Lily smiled innocently, nodding her head yes.

Dumbledore retrieved a small velvet sack from seemingly nowhere, reached inside, and pulled out a bouquet of flowers. Lily made a show of being wide-eyed and disbelieving. "No way," she whispered.

"Way," chuckled Dumbledore. "Little girl, do you know anyone who can do anything like this around here?" Lily stared up at him.

"_I suggest your sister,"_ said Tom.

"My sister made the swing-set at the park float," said Lily. "Does that count?"

Dumbledore smiled. "Of course." He stood upright.

"Tell me, do you know where your sister is?" asked Dumbledore.

Lily hummed in false-thought. "She did say she was going out today, but I'm unsure. Check the library," said Lily. Dumbledore thanked her, and, hand-in-hand with Sybill, left.

"Who was that, sweetie?" called Missus Evans from the kitchen.

"Just a door-to-door salesman, Mum," replied Lily.

Out in the street, Dumbledore turned to Sybill.

"That girl. Was she telling the truth?" he asked. "She would not make eye-contact."

Sybill slowly shook her head. "She was the red-haired girl in my vision," said Sybill. "The gray thing... I think it's controlling her somehow."

Dumbledore nodded grimly. "Than we must stop it. Merlin knows what that thing plans to do with her – and it probably won't be good." Sybill nodded in agreement.

* * *

Later that night, Lily found that Tom's badgering was utterly unbearable.

"Fine," she hissed moodily, pulling on her black cloak and making sure all her necessary equipment was in her backpack, "I'll go to Knockturn Alley and look for a new lead. Jeez. Couldn't you have waited until tomorrow?"

Tom opened his mouth to give her a witty reason why not, but all that came out was, "_I didn't want to."_ Lily cringed at the sound of Tom slapping himself, and stuffed pillows under her bedcovers, should her mother pop in to check on her.

Nimbly, Lily opened her bedroom window and sneaked onto the roof, closing it quietly once outside.

She jumped off the roof and used some magic to soften and muffle her landing.

Unbeknownst to her, the entire thing had been witnessed by someone. Two someones.

A certain Petunia Evans looking to bust her sister, and a certain Severus Snape, who had declared war on Petunia Evans many months ago.

* * *

Abraxas Malfoy was enjoying his time at The Drunken Pixie. Or, he enjoyed it as much as someone at The Drunken Pixie could enjoy time at The Drunken Pixie. So he was not enjoying his time at The Drunken Pixie very much at all.

The bartender, who we have known for some time and was actually named Sklaunt, scowled at Abraxas. "What is a fancy-pants like you doing in here – moping around, no less. Can't ye just buy your way out of depression?" asked Sklaunt.

Abraxas shrugged, staring into his ale like it knew the meaning of life. "I don't know. Your alcohol is cheaper."

Sklaunt scoffed. "Uh-huh. Sure it is," he said, and at the same time, the back entryway opened and a familiar head of red hair popped in.

Lily instantly pulled her hood up upon seeing Abraxas. Yes, he was obviously drunk, but she didn't like the idea of taking chances like this. Luckily, before the blonde managed to turn to see her, Lily's face was hidden.

"Ah, look who it is," sighed Sklaunt. "You again. Whoopee."

Lily shrugged and began making her way across the pub. In no time, she was gone.

However, than Severus and Petunia barged in.

"This is an _adult_ place!" wailed Sklaunt. "This is not a playground! Go back to your dear old mums and leave me alone!"

Severus waved him off, and, holding Petunia by her skinny wrist, began leading her through the pub after Lily.

"Okay," said Severus quietly to Petunia, now that they were in the dark, dank streets of Knockturn Alley, "keep your head down, don't look at anyone funny, and pretend your father works as a Muggle Studies teacher and that is why you're dressed like that. Don't look too awed by _anything."_

Petunia nodded dumbly. After seeing her sister jump off the roof, she'd run outside and bumped into Severus, who claimed he was 'only making sure she did nothing rash after finding out about her magic'. The two started following Lily, but for entirely different reasons.

Severus dragged Petunia to a store called 'Borgin and Burkes'. Though Petunia was truly – pardon the phrase – enchanted by the artifacts and trinkets, she put on her best 'yeah, I'm here every day' face.

It was after midnight, but strangely the store was still open. The two could plainly see Lily's fiery-red hair through the window as she chit-chatted with the shopkeeper, Mister Borgin, and Severus pulled up his hood.

He kicked Petunia's ankle, a gesture that told her to pull up the hood on her sweatshirt.

Faces hidden, the two strode into the store as casually – yet discreetly – as possible.

"... all I'm saying is, it's impossible to tell how much wood a woodchuck would chuck if it could chuck wood," they heard Lily say. Mister Borgin looked about ready to smash he head into the counter.

"Listen, kid," said the shopkeeper, "if you must find out how much wood a woodchuck could chuck if it could, you could just go ask someone who was familiar with wood-chucking woodchucks. Not. Me."

Lily shrugged, and Petunia found herself captivated by the beauty of a diamond pendant. She admired the clear jewels, all thoughts of her sister pushed out of her head. Even slimey Severus seemed to have disappeared.

Surly even _she_ could be pretty in a pendant like that. With trembling hands, Petunia reached out at the pendant, ignoring the 'CAUTION: CURSED ARTIFACT' sign. She felt her hand close around the cold, smooth diamond, and lifted it to see.

Severus, too busy pretending to be interested in a book on advanced potions (he probably knew an easier way to brew every potion in there), didn't notice Petunia.

But Mister Borgin did. "Fool!" he shrieked, making Lily and Severus jump. He made a near-athletic leap over the counter and barreled towards Petunia, slapping her wrist. Petunia gasped as the beautiful diamond pendant flew from her grasp. It hit the floor and shattered.

The shopkeeper swore so badly, even Tom cringed. He whipped out his wand and muttered a spell. The pendant instantly fixed itself and the shopkeeper levitated it back to its stand.

Lily stared, slack-jawed, at Severus and Petunia as the older of the two Evans was chewed out and scolded ruthlessly.

"You time-wasting brats!" he screeched. "GO HOME!"

The trio left quickly, but whereas Severus was thinking something along the lines of, _Dragon droppings! I bet Lily hates me now,_ Petunia was thinking about the pendant.

How fine it had felt in her hand, but so very cold. The cold seemed to have latched onto her hand, and was slowly creeping up her arm.

_Just my imagination,_ thought Petunia.

She was wrong. Very wrong.

**Friend or Foe?**


	12. What Do They Want?

Disclaimer: Harry Potter belongs to J.K. Rowling.

Chapter Twelve

What Do They Want?

**A.N./ I am such a horrid person. Not only did I make everyone wait for this (because I'm such a lard-ass when it comes to finishing things) but I managed to forget who won the poll. It was either Harry or Bellatrix... Whatever.**

When the Evans sisters arrived back home, with Severus of course, Petunia made them both sit down in the kitchen. Lily grimaced as she was hit by a sudden wave of déjà vu. She at least knew Petunia wasn't going to give her spoiled orange juice this time.

"Okay, explain," hissed Petunia. "What was that place?"

"Knockturn Alley," said Severus. He turned his gaze to Lily. "Speaking of Knockturn Alley, how did you know how to get there? You didn't even know you were a witch until yesterday..."

Normally, Lily would have panicked. But after running from a herd of incompetent Dead-Munchers and invading a rising Dark Lord's liar, a little bit of piqued interest on her sister and a wizard's behalf was hardly concerning. Her brain began formulating a lie without her minds consent, but came up empty-handed nonetheless.

"How did you even know I was going to Knockturn Alley?" said Lily, changing the subject. "Are you a stalker, or something?" Severus looked offended.

"I do not _stalk. _I was just keeping an eye on you in case you did something stupidly Gryffindor after discovering your magical abilities," said Severus, though all Lily could think was: _Or in other words, stalking._

All Petunia could think was: _Why does this kid talk like he's at least three years older than he is?_

"Would someone explain this to me?" whined Petunia, getting the conversation back on track. "There's an entire- entire _magical _community hidden under normal peoples noses, you both knew about this, and I didn't?"

Severus sighed. "Muggles aren't supposed to know, but since your sister is a witch, I guess it's is okay. As long as you never tell anyone, ever," he said.

Petunia shuddered, suddenly overtaken by an unexpected coldness. Chill seemed to pulse through her veins, and it showed. "Why are you shivering?" demanded Lily randomly.

Inside Lily's head, Tom mused over Petunia's apparent coldness. The recalled the pendant in Borgin and Burkes. It was quite possible that it had been cursed – and that could mean Petunia was too. Inside Lily's head, Tom opened his mouth to tell his host this, before realizing that it was very unlikely. The Ministry was still passable as competent in this time period, and he knew it would be too much of a hassle to try and sell a cursed artifact – even for a store like Borgin and Burkes.

"I just got a chill," snapped Petunia. "Anyway, it's not important. What of this magical world?"

"Wizards were forced into hiding back in the medieval era, because Muggles wouldn't stop hunting them down and trying to burn them," Severus explained.

Petunia noticed his choice of words. "_Trying_ to burn them?" she said, a blonde eyebrow raised at the bat-like boy.

"A simple charm saved witches and wizards," said Severus, "by turning the fiery agony into a small tickling sensation." Petunia nodded, and Lily quietly put this tidbit into the back of her mind. It may come in handy on a later date.

Tom was growing impatient. "_Just sneak away," _he ordered. "_Your sister's curiosity is hardly a priority."_ Lily bit her tongue to keep from responding to him. Severus and Petunia were inquisitive enough as it was. She did not need them thinking she was mad, as well as a natural at witchcraft.

"I'm tired," said Lily. "Can't we talk about this in the morning?" Severus stared at Lily like she had sprouted another head.

"Oh, Merlin no," he said. "Don't think I'm stupid. If someone asks to talk about something on a later date, they mean 'can't we just never, ever talk about it again?' - I happen to hear that from my mother at least three times a day."

"Well, maybe I don't want to talk about this ever again," said Lily.

"But I need to know how you found out about the magical world on your own," argued Severus.

"And I want to what's going on!" shrieked Petunia, far too loudly. Tom was actually the one to hear the footsteps first.

"_Someone's coming!" _hissed Tom.

"I think Mum or Dad may have been woken," said Lily. "Sev, you have to go." Severus opened his mouth to object, but both Lily and Petunia – because Petunia was a girl of logical sense – were shoving him towards the doorway. He got the message and dashed as quietly as possible away from them.

And not a moment too late. As soon as the front door closed, Mister Evens poked his head down the stairwell. "Girls?" he inquired. "Why are you still up? Go to your rooms." Petunia shot Lily a venomous glance, but Lily ignored it.

* * *

The next morning, Lily started her day by waking up at noon.

"_Finally,"_ grumbled Tom. "_We have much to do today. I've been trying to remember facts, and know what our next move against me should be... Are you even listening?"_

"Five more minutes," Lily grumbled into her pillow, pulling her blanket over her head as if doing so would muffle Tom's voice.

"_No."_

"Fine," whined Lily, sitting up and getting out of bed.

After changing, Lily made sure everything she needed was in her backpack. She crossed her fingers and hoped Petunia would have somehow forgotten the previous nights events. She hopped down the steps as casually as possible.

In the kitchen, Petunia sat at the table. "Good morning, Lily," said Petunia, staring at Lily. Something in her voice unnerved Lily, and the girl realized what unnerved her in Petunia's voice was that there was nothing in it. Petunia wore a very un-Petunia-like expression – which was normally irritated, jealous, angry, or a mix of the three – in that she was not wearing one. Even her eyes looked vacant.

_Almost like she's possessed,_ thought Tom randomly. He suddenly felt as if someone had removed his stomach and replaced it with an anxious bird. "_Evans," _he hissed urgently, "_do you recall the pendant from Borgin and Burkes? The one your sister messed with? It must have been cursed. Avoid your sister at all costs, understand?"_

Lily nodded, making sure she made it like she was nodding in recognition to her sister – which was ridiculous; Petunia was her sister, of course she recognized her. She hoped Tom realized what she'd meant.

As the little girl left the house, she heard Missus Evans shout a question – probably something along the lines of "Where on Earth do you think you're going?" – but Lily tuned it out by listening to Tom's plans and orders, all of which were spewed at her at high-speed.

* * *

Lord Voldemort stroked Nagini's head as he stared vacantly into, well, nothing at all, really. He was, as Muggles would say, _in the zone._ But not in that he was scheming at high-speed or having mental breakthroughs, but in that he was planning how to kill the Potters and their new red-haired friend. It would be slow, painful, and very, very satisfying on his behalf.

"_Nagini, dearest, I do hope you're hungry," _he hissed in Parseltongue. Nagini curled around his throne-like chair, hissing.

"_Of coursssse, Masssster. Who did you have in mind?"_ the gargantuan snake hissed in return. A cruel smirk tugged on Voldemort's mouth, but he resisted.

* * *

Lily loved eating ice-cream in the magical world. Something about it was much better than Muggle ice-cream, and it seemed to sharpen her mind and clear her head. She and Tom's goal of stopping Lord Voldemort seemed oddly within reach when consuming the cold, Merlin-blessed sweetness of the ice-cream. Was that why so many children seemed to study at the parlor? Lily assumed it was.

As she licked chocolaty goodness off her thumb, while Tom ran her through his plan once more, Lily caught sight of someone out of the corner of her eye. Someone with disturbingly twinkly eyes and a rather impressive beard.

Tom seemed to see him, too, judging by his sudden outburst of, "_Merlin's left boot! Dumbledore at one o'clock!"_ Lily hid her face as best she could behind the umbrella pole and she groped in her backpack for a book. She pulled a random book out and opened it to hide her face, and as much of her bright red hair as possible.

Luckily, Dumbledore had not seemed to see Lily. Unlike the last time Lily encountered him, Dumbledore was not with Sybill. He seemed to be at Florean Fortescue's Ice-Cream Parlor to meet someone, judging by how his eyes scanned the customers until he sat down with a very odd-looking individual, who Lily was surprised she had not noticed until just then.

He seemed to have lost an eye, and wore a false one – he also seemed to have lost a leg, though Lily was only judging by the giant chunk of sturdy wood that was firmly planted where his leg should be. He looked as if a chunk of his nose had been removed – unprofessionally, and painfully.

"_Mad-Eye Moody,"_ said Tom. "_Odd that I had failed to notice him."_

"Alastor," greeted Dumbledore, apparently not realizing that Lily was eavesdropping – something that had become a kind of theme in Tom and Lily's little quest. "I understand you know why I've summoned you here?"

Moody squinted at Dumbledore with a look of distaste etched into his features. "You're a fool, choosing a place like this. Anyone could overhear," he said.

Dumbledore chuckled lightly and shook his head. "Oh, Alastor. You never cease to amuse me," Dumbledore said. Moody cocked an eyebrow at him, his false eye spinning slowly.

"Are you saying that no one's going to see you, - Albus bloody Dumbledore – sitting in public like this, and wonder what in Merlin's good name we're talking about?" he hissed.

Dumbledore sighed. "Very well. If it will ease your mind, I shall cast a charm and silence our conversation." Dumbledore flicked his wand and continued speaking to Moody. Lily peeked out from behind her book to try her hand at lip-reading, but to no avail.

"Dammit," she cursed under her breath, not even realizing she'd used a 'curse word'. She packed up her things carefully, making sure Dumbledore did not see her, and left the scene as quickly as possible.

"_Whatever Dumbledore could want with Mad-Eye cannot be good for our little quest,"_ said Tom. "_I'd suggest being at least twice as careful henceforth. Do you remember my_ _plan?"_ It seemed as though Lily couldn't trust anyone on two legs.

"Yup," said Lily as she ducked into Knockturn Alley, getting a strange look from a skinny wizard who stood nearby. She threw a filthy look at him. "What are you lookin' at?" she spat at the skinny wizard. The wizard scowled and began walking away.

* * *

Petunia awoke feeling oddly bloated. Like her intestines had swollen up and were threatening to burst out of her skin.

She blinked groggily as her eyes adjusted to the blinding-white light. Lily seemed to be standing above her, though in such light, Petunia could only make out her eyes. Petunia opened her mouth to demand what manner of freakishness she'd performed to make her feel so very bloated, but all that came out was a strangled cry. Petunia tried to stand, but could not.

"_I am sorry for this,"_ came a boys voice. Petunia blinked wildly, seeing that it was not Lily standing over her. He just had her eyes. "_But it's for the greater good."_ Petunia opened her mouth to speak, but no noise came out.

The bloated feeling was slowly disappearing, replaced with intense cold. She finally found words. "What's going on?" she said, her voice hoarse.

"_There's an evil in this time. I don't trust its motives,"_ said the boy. Petunia could now make out a scrawny outline and a mop of untidy hair. "_I'm afraid I'll have to use your body as a vassal."_

"What?" said Petunia, right before everything went black.

**Where Have the Trustworthy Gone?**


End file.
